By Sandra Michelle Hall
There are very few Village of Ada employees who have the opportunity to speak with residents as often as clerk Eileen, who is a valuable member of the water utility team that ensures your water tap keeps flowing! The Village of Ada provides water, sewer and stormwater utilities to nearly all Village residents, and Eileen is often the first person residents see when signing up for water utilities. Learn more about Eileen and how she plays a role in ensuring residents have access to clean, safe water.
Q. Where did you grow up?
I was born in Toledo and grew up in McComb.
Q. When did you begin working for the Village and what made you decide to pursue an administrative career?
I started with the Village in late Spring of 2015 as a Utility Billing Clerk. At the end 2018, Doris retired as our Police Department Clerk and we took over the clerking duties for the Police Dept. at that time.
CONTINUES
I had been a stay-at-home mom for about seven years and was ready to reenter the workforce. I live very close to Ada and have always considered Ada my hometown. I previously managed the office for a car dealership, always enjoyed that type of work and pursued an open position with the Village of Ada. And nine years later, here we are!
Q. What do you take pride in at your job? In a few sentences can you describe how you serve the public?
Accuracy, discretion and friendliness are my top priorities. We field phone calls as the main line for the Village Office and Police Dept. records desk (not dispatch). I handle cashiering, setting up new accounts or closing them when residents move, each month we process meter read routes, review all meter readings to check for higher or lower usage, prepare the water utility bills to send out, reply to records requests and anything else that comes our way. I enjoy being helpful and appreciate that each day is never the same.
Q. What are some programs Village residents can take advantage of?
On the Utility Billing side, we have AutoPay where customers can be drafted from their account on the 10th of each month to avoid late fees! Life gets busy and too often the bill gets forgotten until after it's been penalized.
For the summer months, which include June through September billings, we offer a summer sewer credit program. For an annual one-time fee of $5.00, when a resident goes over their average usage/consumption, we credit the "over your average" amount off the sewer charge. The water is still paid for, but the sewer credit helps a lot of residents manage extra usage over the summer.”
Q. If you could give one tip to water utility customers, what would it be?
Well... I have two:
Toilets are the best invention by far but can be BIG culprits of water waste. If you notice a running toilet, even if it's on and off, repair it as soon as possible! In extreme cases, shutting off the water supply to the toilet between uses until the repair can save a significant amount of money and water waste.
Our plant operators can provide the cleanest water possible, the public works department can maintain the infrastructure, but if the consumer on the receiving end has old or deteriorating infrastructure, they sometimes experience less than the best. As an example with old, galvanized lines, corrosion can occur and leave sediment in the customer's private lines. I recommend regularly flushing and cleaning the aerator on the end of faucets to keep the water clearer.”
