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Home My WebLink About2015-10-15-WSAB-min Minutes of the Meeting 10/15/15 Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board 201 Bedford Street Lexington, MA 02420 Attendance: BoardMembers:LorenWood,ChairpersonandJimOsten,Member.Staff:BillHadley,DPWDirector, andRobinFullford,UtilityBilling. 4:30pmCallmeetingtoorder LorenWoodcalledthemeetingtoorderat4:34pm. StatusReportofAbatementRequests 18Recommendationstobeheardtonight 67Recommendationsonholdforhistoryordocumentation ReviewMinutesoftheAugust13,2015andSeptember10,2015meetingsforapproval It was moved by Mr. Osten, seconded by Mr. Wood and voted unanimously to approve the Minutes of the Meeting of August 13, 2015 as presented. It was moved by Mr. Osten, seconded by Mr. Wood and voted unanimously to approve the Minutes of the Meeting of September 10, 2015 as presented. AbatementRecommendationsforConsideration Leaks 6BurnhamRoad The homeowners filed for an abatement on bill #2794. In June 2015 they found leaks in the irrigation system, had them repaired and provided an invoice. The 3 year fall average usage is 45. We recalcu- lated the excess usage at tier one rates. Staff recommended an abatement of $148.28. 118GrantStreet The homeowners filed for an abatement on bill #s 2954 and 782541. Between 7/28/14 and 5/5/15 the homeowners had a series of leaks repaired and provided invoices from a plumber. The average fall us- age is 36 and the average spring usage is 38. All usage has been redistributed at tier one rates. Staff recommended an abatement of $153.24. 2HamptonRoad The homeowners applied for an abatement on Bill #825571. This is a rental property that was empty the entire billing period and should have had zero usage. A neighbor reported water running from the property into the street and when the homeowner got there the back outside faucet was running. A plumbing company was called in and they reported no leaks. All usage has been recalculated at tier one rates no sewer. Staff recommended an abatement of $666.25. 7KimballRoad The homeowners applied for an abatement on Bill #822828. They state they repaired a leaking toilet but could not find the receipt for parts. The average spring usage is 33 hcf; we recalculated all usage at tier one rates. Staff recommended an abatement of $62.00. 1 Minutes of the Meeting 10/15/15 Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board 201 Bedford Street Lexington, MA 02420 LeakbasedabatementrecommendationscontinuedͶ 22PeachtreeRoad This property is not connected to sewer and has been purchased by a developer as a tear down. When staff went to obtain a final reading on 9/15/15 they found and temporarily fixed a leaking toilet. The for- mer owner has applied for an abatement on Bill # 826470. In calculating the 3 year average usage we omitted Bill #803808 as anomalous. The average usage is 71; we recalculated all but 31 units at tier one water rates. Staff recommended an abatement of $372.79. 17PineKnollRoad The homeowners applied for an abatement on Bill #822705. However, a plumber found no leaks and the toilets passed the dye test. The meter outread on 7/6/2015 indicated the usage is back down to nor- mal limits. Staff recommended denying an abatement. The bill was paid in full and did not accrue inter- est. Upon appeal, however, the homeowner provided evidence of a burst hose during the winter. The average spring usage is 20; we recalculated all usage at tier one water rates and only 20 units at sewer rates. Staff recommended an abatement of $485.50. 54RobinsonRoad The homeowner applied for a leak-based abatement on Bill #823746. She provided an invoice from a plumber and proof of payment. The average spring usage is 17; staff recalculated all usage at tier one rates. Staff recommended an abatement of $262.63. 237WorthenRoadEast The homeowner applied for an abatement on Bill #774125 in June 2015. He states that staff directed him to hire a plumber to do a leak assessment. He did not make a good faith payment nor did he file an application as he would have been asked to. The plumber found no leaks but did identify cracks in their garden hose. However, the high usage was during the winter months and the usage has come back down. Further, Bill #774125 was unpaid in December and went to lien. In the absence of a leak, staff recommended an abatement of interest only. Upon appeal, however, the homeowner provided evi- dence of an outside leak. The average spring usage is 41; we recalculated all but 1 unit at tier one wa- ter rates and only 41 units at sewer rates. Staff recommended an abatement of $1,131.40. ItwasmovedbyMr.Osten,secondedbyMr.Woodandvotedunanimouslytoapproveall LeakBasedAbatementrecommendations. Billing/MeterIssues 48BrandonStreet After several readings at 514 staff estimated usage at 40 hcf. It has been confirmed that the house has been vacant for years. We were unable to reach the homeowners in Michigan so this is a staff gener- ated abatement. Staff recommended abating Bill #812548 entirely in the amount of $420.00. 2 Minutes of the Meeting 10/15/15 Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board 201 Bedford Street Lexington, MA 02420 Billing/MeterIssuesContinuedͶ 40CoolidgeAvenueDomestic The homeowner approached us believing that their domestic and irrigation meters might be swapped. A site visit revealed that to be true; the irrigation and domestic usages have been re- versed since their installation on 12/28/12. In this calculation, the correct domestic usages have been applied to water/sewer rates. Staff recommended a positive adjustment to the domestic ac- count of $2,023.74. 40CoolidgeAvenueΑIrrigation Staff suspected the domestic and irrigation meters might be swapped. A site visit revealed that to be true; the irrigation and domestic usages have been reversed since their installation on 4/4/13. In this calculation, the correct irrigation usages have been applied to water/sewer rates. Staff recom- mended an abatement of $1,121.12. 19DemarRoad The homeowners filed an abatement on bill #s 809669 & 786971 which were estimated because we could not obtain a reading. We replaced the meter on 8/18/15 with an outread of 2750 indicating a redistribution. This calculation establishes ADU and derives usage. The replaced usage has been captured for the fall bill run. Staff recommended an abatement of $760.80. 23FairbanksRoad This account had been estimated for years. On 7/13/15 we replaced the meter with an outread of 2725 indicating we had overestimated usage. Going back to the last M read on 11/30/2011 we es- tablished ADU and derived usage. The replaced usage of 12 hcf has been captured for the fall bill run. All bills are paid in full. Staff recommended an abatement of $2,954.26. 73FiferLane The homeowners filed for an abatement on Bill #823327. Three bills were estimated when we were unable to obtain readings. A radio read device was installed on 8/21/15 and the reading was 0277. We established ADU and redistributed the usage over three billing periods. The replaced usage of 10 units will be captured in the fall billing. Staff recommended an abatement of $1,591.93. 541MarrettRoad The homeowners filed for an abatement on bill #810264 which was estimated at 100 hcf. The meter was replaced at 1748 on 7/30/15 indicating a redistribution. ADU was calculated and usage for Bill #s 824432 and 810264 was derived. The replaced usage of 37 has been captured for the fall bill run. Staff recommended an abatement of $390.60. 21PartridgeRoad After two estimated bills a radio read was installed at 644 indicating we had overestimated usage. We established ADU and derived usage but, because this is an irrigation account we attributed all usage to the fall Bill #809709. Staff recommended an abatement of $159.70. 3 Minutes of the Meeting 10/15/15 Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board 201 Bedford Street Lexington, MA 02420 Billing/Meter Issue Abatement recommendations continued… 16SaddleClubRoad We were unable to read this meter for some time. Bill #764036 was the result of a postcard read and it indicated we had overestimated usage. Before an abatement could be recommended the me- ter had to be changed but a sink had been installed and there was no access to the meter. In Janu- ary 2015 a plumber moved the sink and we were able to change the meter. This calculation estab- lishes ADU and redistributes usage. The replaced usage of 8 hcf has been captured for the fall bill run. An error was found on 9/10/15 and has been corrected. Staff recommended an abatement of $1,447.52. ItwasmovedbyMr.Osten,secondedbyMr.WoodandvotedunanimouslytoapproveallBilling/Me terIssueAbatementrecommendations. Schedulefuturemeetingtimes Thenextmeetingwillbeheldat4:30at201BedfordStreetonThursdayNovember19,2015withDe cember3,2015asasnowdate. Adjourn ItwasmovedbyMr.Osten,secondedbyMr.Woodandapprovedunanimouslytoadjournthemeeting at6:03pm. 4