Resident Bob Gase told the Fostoria City Council that his triplex at 1309 Columbus Avenue is billed as a single metered address and received a recent water bill of $128.07, which he said is far higher than comparable multi-unit buildings that pay about $62.38. Gase said the building has three residential units served by a single meter and asked the council to consider whether that billing is fair.

Gase said the building was constructed per city guidance and that the water lines and shutoffs were installed by the developer. He said retrofitting separate meters would be expensive — he estimated $1,500 to $2,000 per meter to re-tap and repair landscaping and pavement — and that city staff previously advised one-meter setups when the condo and townhouse projects were built.

Council members and staff responded that the policy stems from how unit charges are applied when multiple residences share one meter and that the water department has operated under those practices for years. The director of law or a staff representative (on the record) told the meeting, “This is a result of the policies that the water department has been operating for years, and I understand Bob’s concern with it, and we will look into it.”

Council member Lehman said he personally agreed that individual meters would be the fair approach where practicable but noted that retrofitting is costly and that the water department had previously discouraged meters in certain configurations. The city indicated staff will review the complaint and the unit-charge policy; no ordinance or immediate council action to change billing rules was taken at the meeting.

Gase asked the city to consider dividing bills among individual units; the council cautioned that splitting a single-meter account among tenants could lead to minimum-charge obligations for units that do not use water. The city said staff would follow up with the resident to investigate the specifics of that property’s billing and meter options.