Bee Editorial
Settle the sewer bill before the end of the year
It is hard to know exactly what has been going on in the three-year sewer debate

between Amherst and Clarence because of all the "he said, she said" reports.

On one side there are Amherst employees and officials saying Clarence has been told of its outstanding bill several times, with no payments received. Amherst is also reporting that on more than three occasions officials left meetings with Clarence thinking everything was settled only to have Clarence representatives come back and say they want another consultant to review the bill.

Clarence has said it just wants details about why the bill is the amount it is. Town officials reported to us that when they asked for more information they got nothing. They have said they will make the payment as soon as Amherst gives them the right bill using the correct formula.

Is your head spinning like ours is after comparing notes from the two sides? Why can't a consensus be found we ask? It appears to us that it is possible to reach an agreement, and we will even arbitrate a meeting to get the bill settled, the check written and both sides satisfied.

Amherst Council Member Shelly Schratz is estimating that with interest, the bill could be as much as $600,000 - money the town could use. She also said the delay is costing the Amherst taxpayers, who are making up the difference.

"Clarence is not creating good neighbor relations," she said.

But Clarence said it would be a good neighbor if the bill made sense to them. And here we go again with the he said, she said.

There are many people who have had a bill they disputed. Every month when that cell phone bill comes, it's hard to believe that something so small could cost so much. So we make the call, we talk to the company's representative and either have the bill adjusted or realize we really did talk and text message that much, and send in our payment.

Why can't Amherst explain the bill to Clarence, answer all the questions and settle this? And it is Clarence's responsibility to not leave that meeting without all the answers officials want, or else this cycle will continue until a lawsuit is filed. It's an amount of money Amherst can't afford to ignore.

With talk of the contract ending, this situation has gotten out of hand. In the end both sides are just trying to protect their financial situations, but the debt continues to grow and animosity is getting stronger. Enough is enough - settle on the bill, cash the check and decide how to handle future sewer business.