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Starting next month, the cost of installing water service in Leitchfield will increase roughly 30 percent.

During its Thursday, Dec. 20, meeting, the city’s Utilities Commission approved increasing the cost of setting water meters.

The current charges are based on the size of the service line, with a 5/8-inch diameter service costing $400, a 1-inch $1,200 and a 2-inch $2,750. Those prices have been in place since at least January 2010.

The charge for a 5/8-inch line will increase about 31 percent, to $525, while the charge for a 2-inch line will jump about 27 percent, to $3,500. The cost of a 1-inch line will remain the same.

The increase is needed in part, utilities superintendent Kevin Pharis said, because of mandated changes in the way the brass used in the meters is made. The brass can no longer contain lead, which has increased the cost to make it.

He said the city normally installs 12 to 20 of the 5/8-inch services per year, and about 10 of the 2-inch ones.

The commission also:

* Accepted an $18,015 bid from Renegade Marine for a 20-foot pontoon boat with a 50 horsepower engine. The boat is needed to reach the city’s new water intake on Rough River Lake — about 75 yards from shore — for regular monthly and annual maintenance.

Pharis has said the city will need something capable of carrying two to four people, tools and other gear to the site, which is about 4.5 miles from Rough River Dam State Park. Currently the utilities department only has a jon boat — powered by rowing — to reach it.

* Heard a request from Tim Higdon for utilities service to an area behind the McDonald’s restaurant on South Main where he wants to erect a pre-engineered steel building for a strip development.

He said the building would be used for retail spaces, such as a sports bar or a check cashing business, and asked about the possibilities of having water, sewer, natural gas and fire protection.

Pharis said getting water service to the area would likely involve looping some lines, and that the sewer line in the area probably needs to be raised.

The commission said they would continue discussing the development with Higdon, who did not specify a timeline for the building being erected.

* Heard the 2012 audit of the utilities system. Total assets were $28.1 million, and total liabilities were $9.9 million, with net assets at $18.1 million.