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Homeowner’s water-bill complaint against Hampton Nursery ends with no action after technical dispute
Summary
Homeowner Ellen Berman told the board she received urgent leak notices and a roughly $1,000 water bill; Hampton Nursery’s staff and counsel said they opened the sprinkler system on April 27–28 and later repaired minor drip leaks but do not perform underground plumbing work; the board took no action.
Homeowner Ellen Berman told the Southampton board she received an urgent notice of a leak, later a $1,000 water bill and that Hampton Nursery failed to respond to repeated calls over eight days. Berman said the delay left mature plantings dying and caused severe hardship. “Then I get 1000 dollar water bill,” she told the commission, describing repeated unsuccessful attempts to get the nursery to inspect the property.
Hampton Nursery’s attorney, James Vlahadamis, and technician Steven testified that the nursery opened the sprinkler system on April 27 and invoiced on April 28; the nursery’s technician said he returned one or two weeks later and fixed minor drip leaks in the above-ground drip system but that underground plumbing or copper work would require a licensed plumber and was outside the nursery’s scope. The attorney asked the board to note the record and the nursery produced worksheets showing visits. After questioning about timing, winterization and whether a manifold or main-line leak could have caused a large bill, the board moved, seconded and recorded 'no action,' citing jurisdictional limits and inconclusive evidence linking the nursery’s work to the homeowner’s bill.
The board advised the homeowner that the nursery's scope is limited to above-ground sprinkler work and suggested she pursue any billing dispute through the water authority or civil remedies; the board closed the matter without ordering repairs or penalties.
