New Wastewater Billing Office Window And Kiosk To Cost $30,000

By Tim Arnett

WABASH,Indiana – Residents who want to pay their sewage bill in person or talk to someone in person about their sewage bill will soon have to make a trip to the Wastewater Treatment Plant off Carroll Street instead of heading for City Hall. The new billing office will be located inside the plant, staffed with several employees to answer questions inside behind a newly installed window. Outside, a new video kiosk system is being installed – much like a combination of an ATM machine and bank’s outdoor teller window. Users who drive up will be able to see and talk to someone inside the Wastewater Plant via the screen. A tube will be installed between the kiosk and the Wasterwater building above ground on a set of stilts.

And the cost of the video kiosk and the window instillation? A little under $30,000, according to Wabash Mayor Scott Long. Wastewater Superintendent Bob Gray noted that residents will not have to pay more on their sewage bills to recoup the cost of the kiosk project. Regardless, the Wabash City Council has NOT appropriated any funds for the project since the beginning of the year. Rick Price, former Wasterwater Superintendent, told MiBash News that the previous administration had nothing to do the kiosk, and that the project only began after Long’s administration came in this January. My Conversation with Wabash Mayor Scott Long about the cost and the need of the project.

Long clarified that the “remodel” is the pay window put into the plant. It is unclear when the project will be completed. Cincinnati-based Compass Group is doing the work. The Mayor said that the work was scheduled to be completed next month but that date is “fluid.” The video equipment is actually expected to be delivered today to the Compass Group. One delay in the completion of the project is the requirement to advertise the change on the wastewater bills customers receive.

As our readers know, the city hired a new receptionist to greet people as they come into City Hall. The Wastewater billing change will mean, of course, that less people will visit City Hall.