News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Cookeville City Council voted to approve an increase in water connection fees at the Thursday meeting.
Director of Water Quality Control Barry Turner said the costs were last increased in 2013. Turner said the increase will allow the Water and Sewer Department to recoup their costs for setting the taps. The previous fees only covered about half of the cost to set meters.
5/8-inch meters will jump from $1,200 to $2,600, one-inch meters will move from $1,400 to $3,000, and two-inch meters will jump from $3,000 to $6,600. These increases will prevent the losses that were being suffered with the previous pricing. Turner said that the increases would not have been as significant had the change come sooner.
As of 2022, there were 38 5/8-inch meters set within Cookeville city limits and some 50 one-inch meters set.
Turner said that most of the meter sets that the Department does are preset meters where a developer has installed the box and presets the meter themselves. Some 170 of those were set in 2022. In the previous ordinance, that cost was set at $350 regardless of the size of the meter. Turner said the new ordinance up those prices to $500 for a 5/8-inch, $600 for a one-inch, and $1,500 for a two-inch preset meter.
City Council unanimously approved the proposal.
