City not giving additional refund

The Hartselle City Council likely will not take any further action in granting an $1,800 refund to a Hartselle resident who claimed she was wrongly charged by the city for more than six years.

At a work session Monday night, City Attorney Larry Madison told the council that giving such a refund for such a long period of time would create a bad pattern for future refunds.

“You’d be setting a precedent that could come back and bite you,” Madison said. “How do we know that the services weren’t necessarily rendered?”

At a July meeting, Gail Brown told the council that garbage, recycling and yard waste carts located at houses she owns at 735 and 737 Pickens St. were not used since the city implemented its own automated garbage pickup service.

City Clerk/Controller Rita Lee said the city had already given Brown a refund of up to three months, but Brown was seeking an additional reimbursement.

Madison told the council that the three-month refund was “reasonable,” but he felt that the city didn’t have to give any additional compensation.