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Home My WebLink About2012-09-13-WSAB-min(`OJ51 MOgryi'Y Minutes goy r7s c Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board w 201 Bedford Street 3 x Lexington, MA 02420 APRIL 19'" INGT September 13, 2012 �� APPROVED 10/18/12 Attendance: Board Members: Loren Wood, Chair, Jim Osten, Member and Maria Constantinides, Member. Staff: Rob Addelson, Assistant Town Manager for Finance, Bill Hadley, DPW Director, Elizabeth Tucker and Robin Fullford, Utility Billing. Mr. Hadley left at 5:00 pm. Chair Loren Wood called the meeting to order at 4:39 pm. Bill Hadley left at 5:00 pm. The order of business was conducted as follows: Status Report Ms. Fullford provided a status report as follows: 15 To be heard tonight 1 Appeal 44 Pending 60 Tota I Ms. Fullford informed the board of two abatement recipients who have told her they wish to appeal the board's decisions. She was asked to have them put in writing their reason for an appeal and what they hope to accomplish. Ms. Fullford voiced her concern regarding 23 Sylvia Street. The meter had been changed at the rental property and reflected a huge under billing due to years of estimates as well as leaks. She was unsuccessful in reaching the owner of the property. Mr. Addelson asked her to forward the file to him for review. Appeals discussion: 2 Hayes Lane Rob Addelson presented a revised abatement recommendation to refund $1,097.80 in interest associated with a double payment and the re- issuance of a refund of $543.80 that was never cashed by the VFW. He recommended the total amount to be refunded to the VFW of $5,555.03. It was moved by, Mr. Osten, seconded by Ms. Constantinides and voted unanimously to approve the abatement recommendation for 2 Hayes Lane as presented. Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting Mr. Addelson suggested that future minutes reflect a change to past tense the words "Staff recommends ... ". It was moved by Ms. Constantinides, seconded by Mr. Wood and voted to approve the minutes of meeting of July 26, 2012 as presented. Mr. Osten abstained from voting as he was absent from the meeting. 1 (`OJ51 MOgryi'Y Minutes goy r7s c Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board w 201 Bedford Street 3 x Lexington, MA 02420 APRIL 19'" INGT September 13, 2012 �� Disposition of Abatement Requests: Domestic Leaks 38 Adams Street The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill # 713779. They found a leak in an unused greenhouse, shut off the water supply and had repairs made. Their three year average spring usage is 40 hcf. We recalculated all usage at tier one rates and removed the sewer charge from the excess because the leak did not enter the sewer system. Staff recommended an abatement in the amount of - $2,148.77. 4 Bushnell Drive The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #717935. A staff visit revealed a leaking toilet in need of a fluid master. The homeowners provided a repair invoice from Kirkland & Shaw. We established the average spring usage at 60 and recalculated all but 20 units at tier one rates. Staff recommended an abatement in the amount of - $115.80. 17 Colony Road Unable to obtain a reading since 2001, this account has been estimated for years. We received a postcard reading of 1366 for the fall 2010 bill run indicating we had over estimated. The meter was replaced on 10/17/11 with an outread of 1579. This calculation redistributes all of the actual usage on the old meter. Additionally, on 7/20/12 staff identified and repaired four toilets leaking in overflow and obtained a reading of 0145 on the new meter. We applied a leak - based abatement on bill # 713556 by recalculating all usage at tier one rates because the average usage was under 40 hcf. Staff recommended an abatement in the amount of - $3,369.13 11 Dawes Road WSAB approved an abatement recommendation on bill #693891 in the amount of - $2,080.86 in February. This is a second leak based abatement recommendation for this account because the leak continued into the next billing period. The homeowner had a leak, had it repaired on 12/7/11 and provided an invoice from Lawrence Sweet for the replacement of two toilets. A staff visit on 7/18/12 verified that new toilets had been installed and further repairs been done in July; the read was 0457. We established the average spring usage at 53 and recalculated all but 13 hcf at tier one rates. Staff recommended an abatement in the amount of - $2,004.48 31 Fletcher Avenue (revisit) Placed on hold. Members of the board were uncomfortable with the abatement recommendation presented and asked for more details including a time line of events. Due to the complicated nature of this particular case, Mr. Wood offered to assist with the calculation. 15 Frances Road The homeowners applied for and received a leak based abatement of $(75.27) on bill #700903. They also applied for an abatement on bill # 714834 because the leak continued into the next 2 (`OJ51 MOgryi'Y Minutes goy r7s c Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board w 201 Bedford Street 3 x Lexington, MA 02420 APRIL 19'" INGT September 13, 2012 billing period. The homeowner has provided a plumbing repair bill dated 12/31/11. The three year spring average is 51 therefore all but 11 units are recalculated at tier one rates. This recommendation was presented and approved at the 7/26/12 WSAB meeting. However, staff found it to be in error and recommended an abatement in the amount of - $17.37 14 Harbell Street The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #715409. A staff visit revealed a leaking toilet in need of a fluid master. The homeowners provided a plumber's invoice for the repair. We established the average spring usage at 32 and recalculated all usage at tier one rates. Staff recommended an abatement in the amount of - $765.51 19 Heritage Drive The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #716839. The homeowner identified a leak and provided an invoice from Kirkland & Shaw for the repair. The average spring usage 58 therefore we recalculated all but 18 units at tier one rates. Staff recommended an abatement in the amount of - $332.73 789 Massachusetts Avenue The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #705810. A staff visit revealed a leaking toilet. The homeowners provided an invoice from PJT Plumbing for the repair. We established the average spring usage at 17 and recalculated all usage at tier one rates. Staff recommended an abatement in the amount of - $1,025.62 75 Outlook Drive The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #718104. A staff visit revealed a leaking toilet. The homeowner provided a plumber's receipt for repair. We established the average spring usage at 60 and recalculated all but 20 hcf at tier one rates. Staff recommended an abatement in the amount of - $581.26 10 Porter Lane The homeowners called after receiving bill #714272. A staff visit revealed two toilets leaking in overflow. They were adjusted and no longer leaking. We established the average spring usage at 66 and recalculated all but 26 units at tier one rates. Staff recommended an abatement in the amount of - $163.20 20 Revere Street The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #710900. Staff found and adjusted two toilets leaking in overflow. We established the average spring usage at 64 and recalculated all but 24 units at tier one rates. Staff recommended an abatement in the amount of - $174.78 16 Stratham Road 3 (`OJ51 MOgryi'Y Minutes goy r7s c Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board w 201 Bedford Street 3 x Lexington, MA 02420 APRIL 19'" INGT September 13, 2012 The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #714610. A staff visit revealed a new fluid master in one toilet and a new toilet in the basement. We established the average spring usage at 81 and recalculated all but 41 units at tier one rates. Staff recommended an abatement in the amount of - $520.22 11 Tricorne Road The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #708262. A staff visit revealed a toilet leaking in overflow; it was adjusted. We established the average spring usage at 34 and recalculated all usage at tier one rates. Staff recommended an abatement in the amount of - $519.09 It was moved by, Mr. Osten, seconded by Ms. Constantinides and voted unanimously to approve these leak based abatements with the exception of 31 Fletcher Avenue as presented. Meter /Billing Issues 81 Gleason Road The usage on this account had been estimated several times. When we changed the meter the outread of 694 indicated we had over estimated by 2 units. We established ADU from the last A read on 4/20/2010, derived usage and redistributed the usage. Staff recommended an abatement in the amount of - $353.98 336 Marrett Road The homeowner called after receiving bill # 717551. The meter was unreadable for years and the homeowner often returned postcards however we received the postcard read for the spring billing after the bill run was completed. The meter was changed with an outread of 547 indicating we had over estimated. We calculated ADU and derived the usage for bill # 717551 at 13 hcf. The other 6 units will be captured in the fall billing. This property is not tied into sewer. Staff recommended an abatement in the amount of - $394.64 It was moved by, Mr. Osten, seconded by Ms. Constantinides and voted unanimously to approve these Meter /Billing Issue abatements as presented Schedule future meeting date: The board will next meet on October 18, 2012. Adjourn It was moved by Ms. Constantinides, seconded by Mr. Wood and voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 5:47 PM. Respectfully submitted, E MOgry� p� 1775 �c Q = D APRIL 19'" � X1NGT�� Robin Fullford Fund Manager Minutes Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board 201 Bedford Street Lexington, MA 02420 September 13, 2012