(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) --  A St. Joseph mobile home park owner is again asking the city for relief on his sewer bills.

Council members heard the first reading of a bill that would forgive almost $9,000 in sewer bills to Russell Hanson, the owner of the Countryside Bristol Park.

Hanson says that because of water line leakage, he's being charged sewer fees for water that never enters the city's waste water system.

Just last month, Hanson was denied waiver of a $7,700 sewer bill for his trailer homes at Countryside Estates.

City officials say they'll consider waiver the fee if Hanson installs an outbound flow meter or individual meters on each of the trailers.

"We try to be pro-business but we don't want to give away the sewer fund," said Mayor Bill McMurray. "We want to keep the rates down. We're trying to balance those competing interests, keeping the rates down but be pro-business.

McMurray says that an outflow meter could cost Hanson as much as $15,000 but could possibly be worth the purchase to avoid any other sewer charge issues in the future.