To the Editor:

I'm writing today to make the people of St. Ignace aware that we are being taken advantage of by our own water department.

I stopped in about six months ago to complain about my bill, like a lot of St. Ignace people. I was told I probably had a leak somewhere. I had my house checked out, and no leak, yet every third month my bill doubles. (I only have a leak every third month). So for six months, I've kept my stubs and every third bill it was doubled. An elderly lady two streets over has been watching hers and, guess what? Her leak is only every third month. She complained, too, and was told she had a leak.

I would like the people of St. Ignace to go to the water company and get a print out of their bills for the last year and look it over. You will see I'm right. Take it to the board; something has to be done. We as a town are being ripped off from our water company.

I'm a family of two. We're gone to work all day and home after 6 p.m., yet every third month we use 4,000 gallons of water.

It's time to put a stop to the leaks. If anyone knows who to contact over this, I would enjoy hearing from you.

Please check your bill. See how long they have been getting away with this. It's time to put a stop to this. Please check your bills and complain. It needs to be done; we need to stop the "leaks" as a whole.

Cindy Rickley

St. Ignace

Editor's Note: City water meters are read (not estimated) every month, and the meters do have leak indicators, said Les Therrian, head of the water department. Water customers can contact his department at 643-7451 for questions or concerns about water bills, and he or a staff member are available to come to a customer's house to help determine the cause of any problem. He also uses history of use records, available at the department, to help address concerns. He said he is not familiar with any complaints regarding higher bills every three months.