PLAQUEMINE - On Tuesday while the Plaquemine City Council and Mayor discussed solutions to the ongoing high utility prices, heated words were exchanged on how to nix the issue.

Despite the debate, relief could be on the way through ordinances that aim to provide standards for utility customers. Mayor Ed Reeves told 2 On Your Side’s Brittany Weiss that meter readers across Plaquemine were misread, resulting in unusually high bills. Some customers experienced bills as high as $70,000. Reeves said there are issues in the utility department, and he plans to change that before he leaves office.

“They’re not answering the phone,” Reeves said. “They’re very rude and there’s no excuse for it.”

Before any decisions were made, words were exchanged between Mayor Reeves and council members. When Reeves suggested the utility staff were under-trained and unable to do their jobs properly, Council Member Natasha Johnson responded by defending the staff. The exchange was heated and members shouted over each other.

“We have been asking for a director since May and we could not understand what was taking you so long,” Johnson said to Mayor Reeves.

The first order of official business was to hire a Customer Service Director to lead the utilities department. The former director left the job in May, and the position has been vacant since. The board voted to move the city's inspector Lenora Crawford to the customer service director. Before she accepted the job, Crawford urged the board to get along and have her back.

“I need 100 percent support going into this,” Crawford said. “If you can’t get along how are you going to give me 100 percent?”

The mayor has also proposed switching to automatic meter readers, taking away the chance of human error. Reeves says the utility staff needs more intensive training to read the meters properly, and he plans to work with Director Crawford to make a plan and address issues.

The council turned down a motion that would have put the responsibility on utility customers to make meters physically accessible by maintaining grass and putting away dogs when meter readers come by.