WELLINGTON, Ohio — Those who live in the northeast Ohio village of Wellington may see a significant increase in their water and sewer rates if council decides to move forward with plans to replace thousands of meters.

Jason Keith and his wife Kelly have owned the Colonial Barbershop in Wellington for almost a decade. It's known as the oldest barbershop in Ohio. 

The Keiths recently received a letter from the mayor's office informing those who live and own businesses in the village that their water bills could go up as much as 20% and their sewer rate by 15% to pay for new meters. 

"They sent a letter out on our water bill that they are going to be increasing rates," said Keith.

He said the rate hike could hurt his bottom line. 

"It does start to add up over time when you start looking at your water cost and your electric and everything else, and you put that all together, and you gotta break that down by cost for a haircut, ya know, makes everything go up," said Keith. 

The Keith family said they run their barbershop on the first floor, and they live above it, so they get two bills. 

"We get the bill for down here and the bill for upstairs. The bill for the barbershop shouldn't be very large because there is not much that happens, but it's astronomical for what we do here," said Kelly Keith, who co-owns the shop with her husband. 

The village said it wants to replace about 2,000 water meters as part of the increase.

Johnathan Greever, village manager, said he believes the rate increase is necessary to provide customers with the high standards they expect, so the increase isn't just about meters. 

"The water rates are going up in order to sustain and maintain the high level of service that we have in the water department. As part of that, we are also looking at improving our metering system," said Greever. 

As for the Keith family, they said they are patiently waiting on what the village council will decide. 

"Our electric bill is always high, water is always high, gas is always high, but like I said, what else are we gonna do? Gotta use the water that we are supplied with," said Keith. 

The village council is back in session to discuss the issue on Jan. 18. ​