Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Utilities topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council presses staff on high water bills and meter-read procedures
Summary
Council members raised alarms about doubled water bills at city facilities and asked staff to investigate possible leaks, meter-reader procedure and whether the city or landlord should cover the costs for a rented building.
Council members questioned abnormally high water bills during the May 13 meeting and pressed staff to check for leaks, meter accuracy and billing responsibility.
Council member (S5) pointed to a city hall bill that rose to roughly $1,000 and asked who was liable; staff (S6) said that because city hall is rented, the landlord may be responsible for certain charges and that staff would pursue the landlord and check for credits. On meter procedures S6 explained the city's practice: meters are read and the software flags consumption anomalies for re-reads and work orders. "If the water leak is on the resident side, it's the resident's responsibility. If it's on the city side, on the city main side, then that's the city's responsibility," S6 said, explaining how liability is determined.
Council members asked staff to log meter reads and maintain consistent records so anomalies can be detected earlier. Staff said they already print address-and-meter serial lists and that the system notifies staff when usage is outside expected averages; follow-up re-reads are performed when software or staff notice abnormalities.
Provenance: water-billing concerns and procedures are discussed at SEG 421–SEG 511 and follow-up meter-logging suggestions are at SEG 523–SEG 578.
