The Mt Vernon City Council held a special workshop on the discussion of the proposal to sell the water and wastewater system to the Illinois American Water Corp. The workshop was well attended with many concerned citizen, and the council addressed the crowd saying that selling the system would help from increasing rates for water. The city has raised its rate by almost 3% every year starting in 2008. According to councilmen David Wood, this year’s rate is expected to be increased by May and another potential rate may be added by the end of this year. The council did not allow citizens to speak, but instead had the audience write down their questions. Many questions were answered including current city employees being offered jobs from IAW, and that Illinois American Water aims to hire local low-bidding contractors when it can. The question of delaying the decision did not get answered, and the council agreed to bring the decision back to the table at its next meeting scheduled March 16.