WASHINGTONVILLE - Village officials aren't sure where a 983,000 gallon water loss for May came from.
Mayor Will Jones said Monday there must be another break.
Utilities Superintendent Brian Gudat advised council by letter regarding the water loss, amounting to 44 percent of the metered use through the village.
In April, the village followed up on a complaint by Washingtonville Plaza owner Fred Rasul regarding a water leak from Bill Willie's Cook Shack to the city line and the village commissioned a company to survey the water system for leaks. A five-gallon per minute leak was located on the "customer side" of the line under the plaza's asphalt parking lot but Rasul didn't want to dig it up unless it was pinpointed.
Jones said Monday that issue was still unresolved.
"I just don't see with that one (to be repaired there) that we're losing 44 percent of our water," he said.
The village purchases water from Salem at $2.53 per cubic foot and the last invoice charged $6,318.
Fiscal Officer Dale Davis said the water bill went down for a couple of months "but shot right back up."
"We must have another break," Jones said, noting they should "probably have Brian attend the next meeting." No action was taken.
In other business, council approved Local Government Fund legislation excluding Salem, the largest city in Columbiana county, whose approval would otherwise be required in the allocation of the money, with a 5-0 vote. Councilman Jim Smith was absent.
It also hired three part-time patrolman including Dan Brean, Ron Craig and Troy McCall on a part-time basis retroactively to June 15.
Assistant Police Chief Mark Husk said the department has been "pretty busy ... people get heated up" and the extra, higher-visibility patrols began Monday.
In other business, Boston St. resident James McFarland asked about raising chickens, noting he had eight to supplement his groceries.
He advised council that times are tough and a lot of people are thinking about ways to help feed their families.
"What can I do to keep my chickens?" he asked.
Jones said there is no village ordinance against it and moved to table the request until "I get a definitive ordinance ..." that says people can't.
He advised McFarland to keep his chickens until he found out.
"We'll do everything by the laws ... until you hear anything different just keep doing it way you've been doing it."
Also, council set Aug. 18 at 2 p.m. for a picnic to raise money for the parks.
Larry Shields can be reached at lshields@salemnews.net
