I increased the import frequency from every 1 min to every 3 mins and it took care of the multiple ticket created.
As far as the notifications are concerned, I have had to disable the auto forwarder as my users are receiving duplicate e-mail responses. I cannot even reply to a ticket, as it creates duplicate e-mails.
I contacted my hosting company and they verified that there are two separate messages coming to the smtp server. I even pointed to a second available smtp server without authentication and am still receiving duplicate messages.
I read through the forums and have already confirmed that the SmarterTools Web Server service does not exist on the server I am on.
I will be grateful for any suggestions.