Water and sewer customers in Pelzer may have noticed their bills due April 10 did not arrive as expected earlier this week. And they will likely received two bills, due to a batch of bills which was misplaced for four days by the post office.
According to Pelzer Town Administrator Skip Watkins, after taking monthly routine readings, the town printed their bills as normal on March 27 and took them to the Williamston post office for mailing. However, once they were entered at Williamston, the USPS apparently misplaced the tubs of bills somewhere in the system.
Mail entered at Williamston is picked up and taken to Greenville for sorting before being brought back to Pelzer for delivery to customers.
Watkins said postal officals in Williamston and Pelzer were asked about the missing bills, but as of Monday, no one could tell him where they were or what had happened to them.
Watkins said the bills were reprinted and remailed Monday, but due to software program limitations, the reprinted bills will only have the total amount due.
The orginal bill could not be duplicated after being run the first time, according to Watkins.
Watkins said the instance of missing mail was the first he has experienced since he has been the administrator in Pelzer.
“We have been taking the bills to Williamston for mailing for several years,” he said. Watkins said the Pelzer post office is not approved to take mail with a postage indicia.
Pelzer has approximately 540 to 550 customers that are billed for services, he said.
Wednesday morning the Pelzer Post Office notified the town the missing cards had shown up.
