The City of Lobelville's policy is that if its customers have a potential leak, the city will notify them by stamping their bill with a possible leak stamp. It will be up to the customer to find out where the leak is and fix it.

It is the policy of the City of Lobelville to consider, on a case by case basis, partial relief (up to 50% of the estimated loss from the highest bill during the period that the leak occurred, irrespective of how long the leak continued) to customers in good standing in the instance that a customer has sustained a loss of billable water due to a leak on their premises. If the customer has sewer, their sewer will be adjusted at the same rate since it is 100% of the water charge.

Qualifications for Adjustment of Leak Charge Fees

To qualify for a case-by-case basis leak adjustment, the customer must

1. Have suffered a leak on their premises,
2. Repaired the leak immediately upon discovery,
3. Have a good payment history,
4. Not have received a leak adjustment in the preceding 12 months,
5. Request assistance within 15 business days of the leak being fixed.

A customer qualifying for a leak adjustment must fill out the attached Leak Adjustment Request and attach an original receipt from a plumber or a receipt for the materials/equipment used in the repair. All necessary paperwork must be returned to the Utility Billing Office of the City of Lobelville. The required documents may be delivered in person or mailed to:

City of Lobelville
Attn: UB - Leak Adjustment
P.O. Box 369
Lobelville, TN 37097

Limitations to Adjustments

In no case shall a customer pay less than 50% of the highest billing, even if the City of Lobelville agrees to adjust the leak upon the customer’s application. In addition, late charges will not be removed even if a leak adjustment is granted if these conditions are not met.

By filling out and turning in the required paperwork, customers attest that they meet the above-listed criteria and agree to abide by the City’s policy regarding leak adjustments. Anyone turned down for a leak adjustment may appeal that initial decision to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, which reserves the right to make further exceptions on a case-by-case basis.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: A large leak may cost a customer thousands of dollars, whereas a minor leak may cost less than $100. A leak adjustment may be requested only once within 12 months. If you request an adjustment for any size leak, you will be ineligible for another adjustment for the next 12 months, regardless of the size of the future leak.

Beginning April 14, 2017, a new Federal Regulation requires all natural gas utilities to notify customers regarding excess flow valve (EFV) availability.

You may request that Lobelville Gas Company install an excess flow valve (EFV) on the gas line to your property. EFVs are mechanical shut-off devices that can be installed in the gas pipe running to the gas meter at your property (the “service line”). An EFV is designed to shut off the flow of natural gas automatically if the service line breaks, for example, by an excavation accident. Stopping gas flow from a broken service line reduces the risk of natural gas fire, explosion, personal injury, and/or property damage.

EFVs are not designed to close if a leak occurs beyond the gas meter (on house piping or appliances). They may also not close if the leak on the service line is small.

If you add additional gas appliances, such as a pool heater or emergency generator, the additional gas flow may cause the EFV to close.

Diagram to illustrate EFVs (Courtesy of Hubbell):

EFV diagram

If you notify Lobelville Gas Company that you want an EFV, we will contact you to set up a mutually agreeable date when we will install one on your service line. The cost to install an excess flow valve (EFV) will be $1000.00 (One Thousand Dollars).

If the EFV on your service line needs to be maintained or replaced, we will do so at no charge to you.

EFV replacement may be necessary if you add additional gas appliances, such as a pool heater or emergency generator, that exceed the EFV's capacity.

EFV replacement may be necessary if the EFV malfunctions (sticks open or closed). Industry experience is that EFVs rarely malfunction.
EFVs cannot be installed on some service lines due to high gas flow, low pressure, or other factors. If you request an EFV, we will inform you if your service line cannot accommodate one.

EFVs will not be installed on your service lines if:

The service line operates at a pressure less than 10 psig throughout the year.
The EFV could interfere with proper operation or cause loss of service.
An EFV could interfere with necessary operation or maintenance activities; or
The meter's capacity on the service line exceeds 3,000 cubic feet per hour.
If you request an EFV, we will inform you if your service line meets any of these conditions.

If you request an EFV, we will inform you if your service line meets any of these conditions.

For your safety, always call 811 to have gas lines and other buried utilities marked before allowing anyone to dig in your yard.

Requests for the inspection and copying of public records of the City of Lobelville shall be handled by the City Recorder expeditiously as possible.   2018_Open_Records_Request.pdf It is the policy and intent of the City of Lobelville to:

1. Comply with Tennessee’s Open Records Law (C.P.A. § 10-7-504 et se) by permitting the inspection and copying of the public records of the City of Lobelville.
   
   
2. Provide access to the City of Lobelville's public records, and copies of those records, to public officials charged with legislative and administrative duties under the town’s charter or municipal code, and other county, state, and federal officials.

Each department head shall be responsible for carrying out this policy. While requests for the inspection and copying of public records of the City of Lobelville shall be handled by the City Recorder as expeditiously as possible, each department head shall also have the responsibility to:

1. Preserve the confidentiality of public records under the Tennessee Open Records Law (C.P.A. 10-7-504 et se).
2. Protect public records from damage or disorganization.
3. The allocation of personnel to records inspection and copying duty must be balanced against the prevention of excessive interference with the town's other essential functions.

The open meetings law now requires that city and county legislative bodies produce an agenda available to the public at least 48 hours before a meeting and that “reasonably describes” each agenda item. 

The new agenda law applies to all meetings of local legislative bodies, including city councils, boards of aldermen, and county commissions.

Some details:

• The agenda must be available 48 hours in advance in a place accessible to the public. This place can be on the governing body’s website or in a public building, such as a city hall.

• A governing body can add an item to the agenda during the meeting only if members follow their bylaws or properly adopted rules and procedures and comply with all other applicable state laws.

• However, the governing body is prohibited from circumventing the advance agenda requirements to avoid public disclosure of the business to be considered.
• By law, notice for a special-called meeting must include the purpose of the meeting and be described in a way that a person with an ordinary degree of reason and intelligence, exercising average skill and judgment, might determine.

Governing bodies may restrict comments to items on the agenda

The law requires that a governing body reserve a period for comment “on matters that are germane to the items on the agenda for the meeting.” Nothing restricts a governing body from allowing comment on items not on the agenda.

Some additional details:

• The governing body may put “reasonable restrictions” on the comment period, “such as the length of the period, the number of speakers and the length of the time that each speaker will be allowed to comment.”

• The governing body may require people to give advance notice that they want to speak. The meeting notice must tell citizens how they can express their desire to speak, for example, if they need to sign up.

• The law requires that the governing body take steps “to ensure that opposing viewpoints are represented fairly.”

• Public comment periods are not required for meetings in which a governing body is conducting a disciplinary hearing for a member or for a person whose profession is regulated by the governing body, such as state licensure boards.