Council continues water‑penalty appeal for property owner to Jan. 28 after staff report and public testimony

The Saint Helena City Council on Jan. 14 heard a lengthy appeal about water‑use penalties assessed for a property with disputed high usage during June–October 2021. Staff described a series of administrative steps taken since the charges were incurred, adjustments already made to the account, and options for further reduction. After public comment from representatives for the property owner, the council voted to continue the matter to its Jan. 28 meeting so staff can provide a concise comparative summary of how prior penalty appeals were handled.

Background and staff review

City staff said the city declared a phase‑2 water emergency in October 2020 and began imposing penalties for over‑use in June 2021. The account owner requested relief for penalties totaling tens of thousands of dollars for the months of June through October 2021. Staff reported they adjusted the property’s allocation after receiving information that more people were living at the house for a defined period and granted an additional allocation for large lot landscaping under municipal code provisions. Staff also inspected the meter and reported it was recording accurately; because of the meter model they could not produce an hour‑by‑hour read for forensic analysis.

Staff said those administrative allocation changes reduced the penalty amount significantly from the initial figure. The staff report summarized multi‑year use patterns and recommended a further partial reduction if council used a seven‑year average as a reference baseline. Staff recommended against a full waiver because they found no definitive record proving the excess usage was caused by an exemptable leak under the city’s criteria.

Public comment and applicant representation

A representative for the property owner said the owner could not attend because of illness and described efforts to troubleshoot site irrigation, the pool and irrigation equipment and to reduce use after discovering the spike. The representative said the household, which reportedly was occupied by additional long‑term renters for part of the summer of 2021, had taken conservation steps and could not identify a single leak that would explain the scale of the over‑use.

Council direction and next steps

Council members asked staff to bring back a short memo for the Jan. 28 meeting summarizing (a) other penalty appeals heard by council, (b) what council decided in each case and what reductions, if any, were granted, and (c) whether properties in those prior appeals were used as rentals during the months with excess consumption. Mayor Doran called for a motion, and council voted to continue the appeal to Jan. 28 to allow staff to prepare that focused comparison. Council members also emphasized the importance of timely follow‑up given the multi‑year age of this pending appeal.

No final relief was granted at the Jan. 14 meeting; the account remains subject to the existing administrative denial pending the Jan. 28 follow‑up.