by Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
LANDIS – In light of an August incident in which a woman accused a town employee of macing her dogs, the town has revised its meter reading policy.
The board approved the policy changes at its Monday meeting.
In August, Leeann Smith, of North Meriah Street, said a utility employee attempting to read her meter maced her dog. Town employee Brian Brown was attempting to read Smith’s meter, which was obstructed by a chain link fence.
Town Manager Reed Linn said during the meeting the staff searched for a written policy, but were unable to locate one.
“We have a verbal policy in place,” Linn said.
The current policy says the town must have access to utility meters 24/7. The change in policy will be to provide an information sheet to new customers that describes the town’s policy of unobstructed access to a meter.
If a meter reader cannot gain access to the meter, he or she would hang a notice on the homeowners door instructing them of a return visit. The homeowner would have a number of days to make an appointment with the utility department for a proper read on the meter.
Linn said if the appointment is not made and the meter not read, the utility service will be disconnected.
Mayor James Furr said the revisions will alleviate his concerns.
Linn said most importantly new customers will have to sign a form to indicate they are aware of the policy.
Alderman Tony Hilton asked if the staff could simultaneously notify the property owners about the policy, if the customers are renters.
Linn said a courtesy letter could be sent to the landlord/property owner. He said the policy revision will be in place by the end of the week.
“I think the property owner should know that the meter is obstructed by the renter,” Hilton said.
Hilton also wanted the board to address employees carrying mace. Hilton said if the town was going to allow it then the proper protocol needed to be in place.
Furr asked Police Chief Bob Wood if an employee were to carry mace should they be made to undergo the same training as law enforcement.
Wood said he didn’t think the employees should have to be sprayed with their own mace prior to being able to carry it.
“What you use on a dog is different than on a human,” Wood said.
He said the pepper spray officers use is pretty potent. He said the mace and law enforcement issued pepper spray were not the same.
Mayor James Furr said following the meeting, he never had any contact with Leeann Smith, who was in fact the meter customer, and has not since the Aug. 16 incident.
Furr was contacted by Smith’s boyfriend, Matthew Church via social networking site, Facebook.
Furr said as to employee Brian Brown, who was accused of using his own mace to spray Smith’s dogs, it remains a personnel issue.
The board also heard from Jason Morris, a representative from General Electric Company about its smart meters.
Morris is a smart grid business development leader with the company’s southern region.
Currently a utility employee must go door-to-door in order to read a meter. The town is looking at options of smart readers or automatic readers.
The board did not vote to buy the smart meters, but received information on the meters.
Morris said the company has a subscription-based smart package instead of asking utilities to pay large upfront fees. GE would handle system maintenance and the town would handle billing.
Utility customers could be alerted via a cell phone text of planned outages.
The board also:
• Approved that requests of street closings be made within 60 days of the event.
The board has in the past received requests to close certain streets for events sometimes the week of an event or after the event.
The board decided to change the policy at its July meeting after a local church asked that a street be closed for vacation bible school. The church needed the streets closed for safety, but had not made the request with enough advance notice.Contact reporter Shavonne Potts at 704-797-4253.