Clute City Council on Thursday, Jan. 9, heard from a Motel 6 representative who asked the council to adjust three unusually large water bills from 2023, but the council voted to table the request so staff and the hotel could provide additional documentation.

Pete Mehta, a representative of the Motel 6 on Highway 332, told the council that the hotel’s billing showed “anomalous” usage across August–November 2023 that produced bills much larger than the hotel’s usual monthly totals. Mehta said the hotel has paid portions of the balance, disputed the remainder, and asked the council to average his historic usage for those months and waive penalties and late fees on the disputed amounts.

The request matters because it involves a commercial customer disputing three high bills that the city says passed through its meter and generated a continuing arrearage that has compounded with penalties. Council members and staff said any change would set a precedent for other accounts and must be supported by clear evidence.

City staff said the department tested the meter and that lab results showed the meter tested 99.9% accurate. “We did pull the meter and test it. It tested 99.9% accurate, and so that's the basis that we have to go on,” said CJ, identified in the meeting as city utilities staff. Staff said they have offered payment plans, and that the account has carried a balance and added penalties since November 2023.

Mehta told the council he had documentation showing day-by-day usage that he said did not match room occupancy and plumbing fixtures. He said the meter reading changed after a meter replacement on Nov. 14 and that usage dropped thereafter. “If you check, the meter changed on 14th November. After that, [usage] significantly went down,” Mehta said.

Council members pressed for clearer, month-by-month billing records and canceled check copies showing payments and asked staff to reconcile whether the outstanding figure is an accumulation of unpaid monthly charges plus penalties. City staff said the account includes carryover charges plus penalties and interest that compounded monthly.

Because council members said they did not have sufficient, reconciled documentation to decide whether to credit the account or waive penalties, a council member made a motion to table the item for additional information; another council member seconded the motion. The motion to table passed unanimously.

The council asked staff to provide a clearer month-by-month statement, copies of payments applied to the account, the laboratory meter test report, and any other inspection records. The council did not vote on adjusting the outstanding balance at the Jan. 9 meeting.

The motel’s dispute centered on three billing cycles in 2023 (August–September, September–October, and October–November) identified by Mehta as unusually high; the exact dollar amounts in dispute were discussed repeatedly during the meeting and described by staff as including the base bills plus penalties and interest, but council declined to set a credit or write-off without additional records.