By Martha Jacob –

During a special meeting called by the Aberdeen Village Council on Oct. 27, an ordinance was passed as an emergency to grant the Aberdeen Huntington Township Fire Department free sewer service.
The issue was brought to council by Councilwoman Billie Eitel, and after a discussion by council the ordinance was approved 5-0 with Councilman Chuck Merrill abstaining due to his connection with the fire department.
“It recently surfaced that since its beginning, the volunteer fire department has never been billed for water or sewer,” said Nathan Pfeffer, fiscal officer. “The fire department offers a service to this community and council felt like this was the right thing to do.”
The ordinance was passed as an emergency, considered necessary for the health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants of the village and more particularly for the financial stability of the fire department.
The issue just recently came to light after the Brown County Rural Water Company, who now supplies Aberdeen with its water, sent the fire department its first ever water bill, due on Nov. 15, 2016.
“Our volunteer fire department has never paid a water bill in the past, but now they will have to,” said Councilwoman Eitel, “So by passing this ordinance now, they will at least not have to pay the sewer bill.
“The fire department is also our Village Community Center which opens it’s doors to everyone. They can cook there, hold all kinds of events, etc., so we were glad to help them out a little by not asking them to pay a sewer bill on top of the water bill.”