BALTIC – “There’s been some talk on the street, ‘Why is my bill so high?'” Adams Township Supervisor Gerald Heikkinen told the township board Monday regarding complaints about water billing issues. “Don’t bad mouth us on the street. We’re here to help. That’s pretty much my agenda for the next year.

“We want to check the accuracy on certain accounts,” he added. “We just want to make sure everyone’s account is operating well. Adjustments can be made if any resident feels (he or she) is being overcharged.”

The supervisor said the township found and fixed errors in about 10 percent of accounts already.

“We’re trying to figure out how many more are messed up,” Heikkinen said. “It’s a work in progress. We’re not here to rip you off, we just want to make it right.”

The township will read meters every month until December in an effort to generate accurate bills now and in the future.

“We will decide in December if they want to continue monthly readings,” said Heikkinen, who has been township supervisor since November 2014. “I don’t want to talk about the past. I don’t know what happened then.”

Since a new water billing system was installed, township records only go back to May 2015, but that doesn’t mean the new system is bad.

“It’s pretty much a fool-proof system,” Heikkinen said of the new billing program, expected to help flush out problems.

Malfunctioning water meters will be replaced as part of the effort to get billing issues straightened out.

A $2 million township water project is set to begin in May 2017.

The township spent $155,000 last year fixing leaks in its water system, including repairing the massive washout caused by a water main break south of Trimountain this spring and a lot of leaks in Atlantic Mine.

Concerned residents can call Heather Platzke at the township office at 482-4420 to talk about their water bills.