ORANGE : 2 Absences Postpone Sewage Fee Decision

The City Council postponed a decision last week on whether to raise sanitation and sewer fees because two council members were absent.

Mayor Gene Beyer requested that the council delay the item, which would tack on $1.87 to the $12 monthly fee the average single-family residence now pays for the sanitation services.

The proposed increase would fund the city’s material recovery, tree trimming and weed abatement programs.

The mayor said he was recuperating at home after undergoing a recent “defibrillator exchange.” The device, which restarts the heart by electrical current, was implanted about two years ago after the mayor experienced severe heart complications.

Councilman Mike Spurgeon also did not attend last week’s council meeting because of a “business commitment.”

The mayor’s absence upset members of a local taxpayers organization that had distributed more than 300 flyers calling on members to protest the proposed hike at the meeting.

Beyer did not notify the city clerk that he would not attend the council meeting until that morning, according to the city clerk’s office.

“It’s not fair to the community to wait until the last minute to change the meeting,” said Carole Walters of the Orange Taxpayers Assn. “If someone can’t be here, that’s not our problem.”

Beyer has missed two council meetings a month in December, January and February, according to city reports.

However, Beyer, who was working at home last week, said he will be back for the council’s meeting tonight.

The proposed fee increase is scheduled to be considered at the 7 p.m. session.