The Village of Kiryas Joel is waging another water-sewer fight with Orange County officials, this time over its contention that the county is gouging the owners of three Kiryas Joel buildings with exorbitant sewer fees.

The properties cited in a lawsuit filed against the county are the Kiryas Joel firehouse, a wedding banquet hall and a 50,000-square-foot women’s services center that’s nearing completion. On the women’s center the county has already charged “tens of thousands of dollars” for sewer use even though it hasn’t opened and isn’t even connected to the sewer system.

Furthermore, the county is charging the building as though it were a hospital, which costs its owners — a nonprofit called Aishes Chayil D-Kiryas Joel — three times as much as they should pay for sewer service.

(Source: Times Herald Record)