East Ridge officials said Thursday night they are not in favor of a proposed $8 per customer monthly fee under consideration by the county Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority.

New City Manager William Whitson said, "It's not especially fair to ask everybody to pay that fee."

He said a possible compromise would be a fee of $2 or $3 that could go along with obtaining grant funds such as Community Development Bloc Grants to carry out the goal of repair leaky sewer lines to homes.

Mr. Whitson said a key vote on the $8 fee is set by the WWTA board on Wednesday.

He asked for direction from the East Ridge Commission since he will be filling in for the city's regular delegate, Commissioner Tom Card.

It was agreed that a letter will be drafted in opposition to the $8 fee and that commission members can sign it if they wish.

Mayor Mike Steele said East Ridge already provides over 50 percent of the funding to WWTA.

He said the full $8 fee would amount to another $1 million charge to East Ridge citizens.

On another issue, City Manager Whitson said he is concerned that the East Ridge City Court may have a backlog of as much as $1 million in unpaid court costs and fines.

He said better management and more aggressive bill collection is needed at the courts.

He said, "In my opinion, it's (the large amount of uncollected fees) an unfair burden on the taxpayers of this community."

Judge Arvin Reingold told the commission he stresses every Tuesday night at court the importance of paying up.

But he said many of those fined have no money to pay. He said some of the backlog dates back as long as 10 years.

He said the city "has little leverage" on collecting the money, though he said it has begun threatening to take away driving licenses.

The commission approved adding a third clerk to the court to help with the backlog. Judge Reingold said former Judge Bill Luther also had three clerks.

The commission authorized City Manager Whitson to negotiate with Waterhouse Public Relations on a PR contract for the Imagine East Ridge campaign.

Mr. Whitson said the Waterhouse proposal seemed reasonable, but he said he will be a tough negotiator and make sure the city is getting its money's worth on the PR contract.

He said there will be a workshop March 12 at 5:30 to set a schedule of projects that need to be accomplished in the coming 12 months. The ideas came from prior Imagine East Ridge sessions.

City Manager Whitson presented his first City Manager Outstanding Performance Award. It went to animal control officer Jonathan Cooper, who was praised in an e-mail by a citizen.

Mimi Lowery said she had read that City Attorney John Anderson is going along with city officials on a trip to Washington, D.C. She asked if the city is paying for his trip.

Attorney Anderson, whose fees have been the topic at several commission meetings, said no.

She asked if he would bill the city for the trip. Attorney Anderson said no again.