Senatobia church has gone weeks without water after filing suit with city

SENATOBIA, Miss. (WMC) - A small neighborhood church in Senatobia, Mississippi, filed a lawsuit against the city over a disputed utility bill. The city cut their water just a week later.

The Church of Christ on West Gilmore Street has held services on Sunday mornings and during the week despite having no water running through their pipes since October 23.

Minister Michael Cathey says their dispute with the city began after a utility bill in January claimed they had used 187,000 gallons of water in their old building after an underground leak.

Cathey says they can prove without a shadow of a doubt that this much water was not used but says the city ignored their dispute over the bill.

The church has brought on attorneys William Wheeler and James Franks for help in the matter. After they were ignored by the city on October 15, they filed a suit.

The city cut water from the church the next week, including the new church building, which has a different utility account to the old building with the disputed bill.

Cathey and his attorneys say this is a retaliatory action that’s against federal law.

“It’s the principle of the matter,” says Wheeler. “If they can do that to these individuals, to this church, then they can do it to any individual.”

The mayor’s office has declined to comment at this time.

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