Vestal town leaders will discuss water rate hikes with residents tonight.

Action News Reporter Julianne Sweeney tells us, if rates do go up, the town's working to minimize the impact for homeowners and businesses.

Matthew Joubert took over Take-a-Break Family Restaurant on Old Vestal Road 3 months ago.

He says the restaurant uses at least 100 gallons of water a day.

If Vestal water rates go up, his water consumption's going down.

"Do the dishes more at a time than one at a time. Teaching them more of a system." says Joubert.

Right now, people pay a dollar and 99-cents per thousand gallons.

The town's looking to increase that rate to 2-dollars and 24-cents per thousand gallons.

Vestal Town Supervisor Peter Andreasen's says that's because it's becoming more expensive to treat and purify water.

"With everything else going up, water as a separate business has to go up and pass on the rates to its customers." says Peter Andreasen, Vestal Town Supervisor.

Instead of charging more for water, the town's also considering a quarterly capital improvement fee.

Money would be put into a reserve fund for future projects like buying new water wells.

"We're going into this lightly, and we really do want to minimize the impact on residents." says Andreasen.

"It makes me very nervous because there's a lot of increases in a lot of stuff like electric and gas, and now water." says Joubert.

Andreasen says the board's in a discussion phase.

It could take weeks or even months before a vote's taken and a decision's made.

In Vestal, Julianne Sweeney, WBNG-TV, Action News.

Tonight's Vestal Town Board Meeting starts at 7:30.

That's at the town hall.