I am trying to find one of your local residents, Mr. Steve Lute. Steve and I were good friends in the Air Force in Goldsboro, N.C.

Steve shipped to Alaska around 1987 and I shipped out shortly after to Dayton. We kept in contact for several years after but then after a few moves, we lost contact.

Steve would be in his early 50’s. I would guess that he eventually retired from the Air Force because he was a career Airman.

Steve was a heavy equipment mechanic supervisor and I am pretty sure he specialized in working on heavy fire-fighting equipment in Alaska. He was once married to a mutual friend named Sandy and still may be. I know Steve had deep roots in your area.

If anyone knows Steve Lute, please have him contact Mark Wilson by email, gottabewv@aol.com, or phone, (304)763-7429.

I would greatly appreciate your help as it is important that I find him.

Mark Wilson

Daniels, W.Va.

 

City not providing good service for water customer

I am outraged at the mayor and the city’s water department, as are many.

The mayor’s office and the water department are inexcusably incompetent.

I am a citizen of this community and, needless to say, never late on the payment of my water bill. In the past, I have paid as much as $300 or more in water payments.

I have had an issue with my bill for years and have on several occasions phoned about outrageous bills I have received. I am at odds constantly with excuse after excuse that the water department has estimated my bill on the high end.

I have never had good water pressure in the 13 years I have been in my house. I played the game and eventually did as they said and assumed that the water pressure is on my side and my problem.

My brother and I dug up my whole back yard and put a brand new water line in the ground. Before we hooked the new line up to the house a representative of the water department came out to make sure we were correct in our application.

He was very helpful in answering any questions we had. We connected the line to the meter and, at the advice of the water dept. gent we straightened the line out to the street and turned on the water at the meter.

The water was coming out but as the man said it was extremely weak. He then said, “I’ll figure this out right now.” He went to the meter and disconnected the water. “Just as I thought,” he said. “This is our fault. You need to call the office and tell them the water department needs to come out and change this line on our side and your water will be coming out like a fire hose.

I did this the following Monday, I spoke with a water dept. woman who told me she would put in a work order with the supervisor.

A month went by and then my sister went down to the water dept. Two more months go by and we phoned again. The receptionist said the work order was there and they would get right on it. Again, no water company.

We phoned again and they promised Jan. 17. By this time I’m in the residence and still no water company.

My mother phones again and is told the pressure was fine.

So, here we are with an excuse that it is in the pipes under the house when my brother and I, as well as a representative from the water department, saw it with our own eyes that there is no pressure coming into the house.

I am submitting this to the highest authorities in the state to resolve this issue. I know the citizens of Ironton are with me on this water department problem because I have seen other views expressed in the paper.

Needless to say the water department and the mayor has sunk to an all time low in my book and seem to want to get out of a little work, which is well deserved in a reflection of the sky high bills the people of Ironton are paying for water service.

Robert E. Whitt

Ironton