Council grants relief for one disputed water bill, denies second appeal in Johnstown

The Johnstown Common Council on March 16 approved relief for one water-billing dispute and denied a second after staff reviews and recommendations from the City Engineer.

City Engineer Christopher J. Vose explained that 101 FonClair Street had been purchased in June 2025 and still had an older water meter that lacked retrievable data logs. Vose told the council there was significant unexplained usage on the billing period's back end and said a leak had been detected and then turned off; because staff could not identify a concrete cause for the discrepancy, their recommendation was to offer billing relief by averaging the last three billing cycles. "Relief is warranted in this case because we don't have a concrete reason for the discrepancy," the minutes report. The council approved the recommendation; the motion was made by Council Member Bradley Hayner and seconded by Council Member Max Spritzer and recorded as Ayes: 5.

On the second case, 6 W. Street (a four-unit property), the owner informed staff that a plumber inspected the property on March 3 but did not provide follow-up documentation. The City Engineer reported no city-system issues and recommended denying the dispute; the council voted to deny the grievance on a motion by Council Member Bradley Hayner, seconded by Council Member Vincent McCallum (Ayes: 5). The minutes state the denial was based on the City Engineer's recommendation that the city's meters and systems showed accurate readings.

Both decisions were entered into the minutes and recorded as official council actions. The council's water-grievance procedures applied the staff findings to determine relief in the first case and to deny the second. Any further appeal or billing adjustments would follow the city's established grievance process as reflected in the attached staff reports.