By By Ben Alexander/The Meridian Star
May 16, 2001
A court date for Meridian and Marion officials to settle an ongoing dispute over sewage treatment rates will hopefully be set this week, according to attorney Tom Goldman.
Goldman is the town attorney for Marion.
He said the two parties are set to meet with Lauderdale County Chancery Judge Sarah Springer sometime this week to schedule a tentative date for her to hear arguments.
The dispute between the two municipalities arose in November of 2000 when the Meridian City Council voted to nearly quadruple the price it charges Marion for treating its sewage from 67 cents per thousand gallons to $2.43 per thousand gallons.
Marion officials have maintained Meridian had no right to raise the fees because of a 1986 agreement between the two entities. Meridian officials claim an action by a previous city council cannot bind the current one and that the rate hike is justified because another city ordinance forces customers outside the city limits to be charged the same rate as residents inside the city, which is the $2.43 price.
Goldman said he thinks the case might be heard sometime in July.