BEDFORD - The Bedford City Council announced Thursday it will continue to look at a proposal to bring city water to a Bedford County neighborhood that borders the city's closed, leaking landfill.

The council called the special closed-door meeting to discuss legal issues facing the city concerning groundwater contamination leaking from the landfill onto residential property and a 91-acre farm. The farm's owner, Mike Schrock, is seeking a court date for a federal lawsuit designed to force the city to take immediate steps to clean up the contamination.

The drinking water from Schrock's private well is currently safe to drink. But the wells at six homes in the neighborhood along Bell Town and Draper roads have shown signs of contamination. Two of the homes share a well that earlier this year tested positive for groundwater contamination.

The city installed filters on the well, and recent tests show the water is safe, City Manager Craig Meadows said.

The city plans to contact Bedford County's Public Service Authority to discuss the water line.

Although city water could ease the fears of residents near the landfill in the short term, the city is corresponding with the state's Department of Environmental Quality on a range of options to clean up the contaminated groundwater.