Senoia is going

to start cracking down on water customers who abuse the system.

The City Council

unanimously passed increasing the fee for reconnecting water service for

residents who don't pay their bill in a timely manner.

Previously,

the fine was $25, but the council doubled it to $50 Monday night.

City administrator

Murray McAfee said the process of turning off and reconnecting a customer

was extremely labor intensive, and $25 was not even covering the workers'

time involved in the process.

He also mentioned

that some residents were cutting off the locks that city workers install

to stop the water flow for delinquent customers.

Jim Rogers,

who serves on the city's tree committee, suggested from the audience the

fine should be raised to $250, but the council decided to go for a smaller

amount.

City Councilman

Pat Tunnell said he had a problem with increasing the fine for residents

who were having financial difficulties in paying their bill, but McAfee

said financial reasons were not the primary reason many residents didn't

pay their bill.

"It's

not who you think that are not paying their bills," he said.

After the council

passed the increase, they said they would examine the increased fine in

six months to see how it was deterring habitual offenders.