Carrier Mills mulls water billing issues
Carrier Mills mulls water billing issues
By Jon Sternberg
Contributing Writer
Carrier Mills
The Carrier Mills village board considered a request to amend the village's water billing ordinance during Tuesday's meeting.
Local property owner and landlord, Chris King, addressed the board about concerns and problems that she and other landlords have with the village's water billing procedures. Though King's request to address the board came too late for it to be included in the agenda, the mayor allowed King to speak before other, previously scheduled items.
King addressed the board, outlining problems that village landlords had with the water billing procedures that are in effect in the village. King prefaced her address to the board with the statement that, "I recognize that the water department has to pay for the water they disperse, and that they cannot continue to pay for non-paying customers, and I think that the city and the water department recognize that the landlords should not have to pay for non-paying tenants. That responsibility should rest solely on the tenant, my tenant, your customer. So, the ideal scenario would be to come up with a solution where the tenant pays or moves on."
The ordinance requires landlords to be responsible for the water bills that their tenants generate, in the event that a tenant leaves, vacates or abandons their lease and rented property without notifying their landlord. The village ordinance further requires that the outstanding bill be paid before the water supply to the property can be turned on for a new tenant, either the new tenant or the property owner must pay the outstanding bill.
King feels she and other landlords do their best to monitor the status of their properties and that ordinances are in need of revision. King said that the village's policy to allow late or overdue water bills to accrue or run up to the amount of $150 before issuing a shut off warning and the warning gives the tenant three days to pay the bill are an issue. King further stated that "the shut-off warning must be given three business days prior to the actual shut-off. Thus, if the meter is read in a Friday, or even on a Friday before a holiday, the water bill continues to accrue over the weekend or the holiday, plus the additional three business days after the warning is issued, before the water can be shut off."
King feels very strongly that this policy is flawed and needs to be changed.
King told the board that she had "informally" discussed the matter with the water office staff and they had helped her with some suggestions that would correct the perceived flaw in the village ordinances. King believes a shut-off warning should be sent out the day after the water bill is due. King said that she had been told, and had seen, that a water bill could run up to a large amount of money very quickly, especially if an undetected leak occurred.
"Thus, even an unpaid water bill of $60 would get a shut-off warning if the customer was a renter," adding, "Remember, this suggestion comes from the ladies that deal with it every day."
The board listened to King's address with interest and board member Greg Prince spoke, saying that "I like some of your ideas and I see that the burden lies with the landlords and the water department. I appreciate you coming to talk to us about this."
Mayor Shaw also told King that he and the board appreciated her speaking to them about this perceived problem and encouraged her to continue her dialogue on the issue with the Fire, Water and Sewer Commission at their regular meetings.
Mayor Louis Shaw said the recent Spring Feast was an "unqualified success" though thunderstorms and rain caused the first day of the event to curtail festivities early in the evening.
In unfinished business, the mayor stated that proposed changes in the village liquor ordinance still need to be fine tuned and requested that the board table action on the changes. The board voted unanimously to table action on the revisions.
In other action the board:
Allowed a village lien on a property owned by Jessica Simmons, in order for the property to move closer to being sold.
Approved a village budget for Fiscal Year 2015 of some $488,000.
Approved purchase of new signaling equipment for the villages storm sirens that will allow them to be triggered either from any of the villages police cars or remotely from the Fire Department by the fire chief or either of the two assistant chiefs.
Approved the cost of $684 for the purchase of new stop signs to replace those damaged, destroyed or stolen in the village.