Will the Atlanta water crisis affect your next bill?
Atlanta working to address water crisis fallout
Atlanta's mayor and city council want to get ahead of the water crisis that plagued our city for five days. Mayor Andre Dickens has already announced the city will set aside five million dollars to help businesses who were negatively impacted by the water main break, but what about residents?
ATLANTA - Atlanta's mayor and Council are trying to get ahead of the water crisis that plagued the city for five days.
Mayor Dickens has already announced the city will set aside $5 million to help businesses who were negatively impacted by the water main break, but what about the residents?
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Atlanta Watershed Management said the water bill cycle has not yet been processed since the water main breaks, so residents don't really know how their bills will be affected just yet.
Atlanta likely lost millions of gallons of water during the five-day water crisis.
The question remains how the dramatic disruption will affect residents who may have billing issues.
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"City Council does not know yet. The City Council Utilities Committee did not meet during the crisis, and it won't meet until tomorrow morning," Councilman Howard Shook revealed.
Councilman Shook said council members will have the first chance to address the uncertainty the water main breaks may have for residents. They will be looking to hear from the Dickens' administration.
Atlanta water crisis: Help for small businesses
Small businesses have been hit especially hard during this crisis. Many have been forced to shut their doors every day since the water mains broke. But they could soon get a shot in the arm. Mayor Andre Dickens says he’s establishing a financial relief program for small businesses that lost money during the crisis.
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"One of the questions, among many, will be, ‘To what extent, if at all, is the administration looking at developing a proposal where residents who can demonstrate that they had their water service diminished during the course of the break might have an opportunity to be reimbursed?’" the District 7 Council shared.
"We want to help people who had issues that were no fault of their own," Utilities Chair Antonio Lewis said.
That meeting will take place at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. FOX 5 Atlanta will be there to monitor the situation.