The Warren County Commission has decided to not pay its entire October sewer bill and instead is challenging a sewer cleanout fee assessed by the city of Warrenton. The unpaid portion, which amounts to $2,382.41 for the billing cycle between Sept. 15 through Oct. 11, is related to a sewer pretreatment dispute that seemed to have been resolved last month. A motion Monday by Northern District Commissioner Dan Hampson to pay the cleanout charge failed for a lack of a second. City officials, meanwhile, are now considering the sewer bill to be delinquent. If the bill remains unpaid by Dec. 28, which is the citywide shutoff date, then the county's water and sewer service will be shut off. This is the latest chain of events in a feud that began in February when city crews discovered a jail jumpsuit and other garbage that had been stuffed down toilets by inmates inside the county jail and blocked the city's sewer main. The extra fee on the county's October bill covered 19 sewer cleanouts, according to city officials. The city began charging the county Oct. 13 for each cleanout, which had been performed twice each weekday and once a day on the weekends. Each time a cleanout is performed, the city charges the county $100. The city also is billing the county for the time spent by one or two city employees on the cleanout. Commissioners have yet to state if they will pay the unpaid portion by the shut-off deadline. It also has been forwarded to the county's attorney for further review. "It seems a little overkill all of a sudden on that," Presiding Commissioner Arden Engelage said. "All of a sudden they suck it out twice a day and charge us for it. It really shows that they don't want to work together. If I was a taxpayer I would be upset. It's taking it from the taxpayers." At the same time he made his motion, Hampson remarked that he wanted the city and county to schedule a future joint meeting with a moderator overseeing the discussion to help reach a resolution on the dispute. Both sides were slated to meet last week to discuss other items, but that meeting was canceled. Mayor Greg Costello emphasized the city is not trying to be vindictive to the county and said the city is willing to work with the commission. He noted that the city agreed to reduce the number of cleanouts performed on weekdays to one a day following an inquiry from Sheriff Kevin Harrison. "When you know how bad the problem is, you have to do something," Costello told The Record. "We have to protect our system. I wish we could get past this and reach compliance. "At the end of the day, we're not trying to gouge anybody," he added. "We're trying to protect our system." Commissioners on Monday said they weren't aware of the sewer cleanout or the billing costs involved. However, in a letter sent to Harrison about extending a shut-off deadline last month, the city notified the county it was going to clean the manhole that services the courthouse facility on a daily basis and that the cleaning charges would be added to the county's monthly sewer bill. A copy of the letter was also sent to the county commission. Commissioners questioned the daily cleanouts and the fees associated with it. "This is an expense for operating a $300,000 piece of equipment," Costello said. "We don't think the rate is ridiculous at all. Our mission is so simple. We need compliance. We need the county to comply just like anybody else." The city requested the sewer pretreatment improvements since every manhole overflow must be reported as a violation to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. City officials are worried that similar incidents could cause damage to the sewer system. Under city codes, it's unlawful for any type of garbage to be discharged into the city's sewer system. Photographs taken by city crews over a three-week period in October showed a variety of items had been removed from the manhole that services the courthouse and were the first public evidence of a problem caused by inmates. Some of the trash that was caught with a rake and removed by the city's vacuum truck included a bedsheet, snack bags, toothbrushes, toothbrush containers and food wrappers. Public Works Director Guy Gevers told The Record that items, such as socks and food wrappers, continue to be removed daily from the manhole. The daily cleanouts will continue until the sewer pretreatment improvements are completed. Bids were opened on the project Monday morning, but the county commission took no action so that the proposals could be reviewed further by engineers. Commissioners anticipate awarding a bid early next week.