City residents will find a revamped city water bill in the mail next week.

At Monday's Westminster city council meeting, Marge Wolf, city administrator, presented the council with a copy of the new format for the city's water bill.

Once a postcard, the bill is now a full-page that offers new features including a chart depicting one's water usage from the previous bill and a message corner that will feature news about drought conditions, repairs to the system and other related topics according to Wolf.

"There is a lot more information," Wolf said of the new design. "And this is a lot more readable format."

Along with the bill, residents will receive three pages of city news, Wolf said. One page will feature the Carroll County Arts Center; one will feature Main Street Westminster news and the last will feature city park and recreation events.

"It is an opportunity to communicate directly with our citizens," Wolf said.

New fees in January

In January, the new format will also reveal the expected changes to the city's water fees.

The city has been reviewing its current rate structure for the past year. Last July, a consulting firm presented the council with several options for revisions to the rate structure that encouraged water conservation and appropriate allocations between users inside and outside the city limits.

A public hearing is to be scheduled regarding the proposed rates. The new rate structure is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2008.

Also scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1 are the proposed revisions to various city fees and charges. At Monday's meeting, the council approved the new framework for the revisions regarding the wording of the document to make it easier to review. In November, the council will review proposed increases in fees the document describes.

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