After considering the issue for several months, Falls City council members have decided to allow water bills to optionally be sent out via e-mail.

The decision came during their regular March 14 meeting and is aimed at saving the city time and money. The click of a mouse is less costly than paper and postage, and residents that have e-mail can get their bills on their computer instantly.

For now, the program is in an optional test phase, according to discussion.

"If we have the means in the system and it’s not a burden, then bingo, no brainer," council member Steven Swierc said.

There was some worry over whether some customers would claim to have never received their bills due to computer and Internet technical issues, but council members reasoned there were similar issues with using the post office.

"If the post office loses your bill, we’d say tough," council member Jeff Johnson reasoned.

Residents interested in receiving their bills via e-mail instead of the postal service should call or e-mail city hall, according to discussion.

The program will be entirely optional and residents who receive their bills via the postal service will not notice any change unless they request one. Customers that receive their bills via e-mail still will receive disconnect notices via regular post.

The city also heard from engineer Julian Bielawski regarding the sewer grant project Falls City is undertaking.

"Up until four or five hours ago, I thought it was going to be bad news," he told council members.

The project was facing a major boundary issue as current maps were vague and ambiguous as to where the city’s right-of-way ended on Elwood Street.

A recent discovery of the property deed gave a more definite outline of where the city’s easement ended and a local property owner’s began, easing worries over whether a portion of the sewer project would have to be completely reworked.

The design on the lift station that will be placed in the area is close to completion and the sewer line upgrades are still being worked on.

The town’s street repair project preparations still aren’t finalized. Council members had an item on the agenda considering going out for bids on the project, but council members and the mayor weren’t sure exactly what to go out for bids on.

Not all of the specs are done regarding specifically what kind of work each street needs done, and the $112,700 the city has budgeted for the project is waiting to be told where to go.

"You’ve got to have specs to go out for bids," Mayor Vi Malone said. "They’ve got to know what you want in order to get comparable bids."

Swierc suggested a street workshop meeting to get all the project issues ironed out. Council members suggested hiring a consultant to develop the project specs.