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Home My WebLink About2011-06-02-WSAB-min Minutes Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board 201 Bedford Street Lexington, MA 02420 June 2, 2011 APPROVED 7/14/2011 Attendance: Board Members – Jim Osten, Member; Loren Wood, Chair; Maria Constantinides, Member Staff: Rob Addelson, Assistant Town Manager for Finance; Bill Hadley, DPW Director; Erik Gitschier, Water/Sewer Superintendent; Elizabeth Tucker and Robin Fullford, Water/Sewer Enterprise Chair Loren Wood called the meeting to order at 4:32 pm. The order of business was conducted as follows: Review for Approval Minutes of the Meeting: It was moved by Mr. Osten, seconded by Ms. Constantinides and voted unanimously to accept with minor changes the minutes of the March 17, 2011 meeting. It was moved by Mr. Osten, seconded by Ms. Constantinides and voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the March 24, 2011 meeting. It was moved by Mr. Osten, seconded by Ms. Constantinides and voted unanimously to accept with minor changes the minutes of the April 21, 2011 meeting. Ms. Fullford presented a status report as follows: 27 Applications to be heard tonight 8 Pending applications 1 Appeal 9 Independence Avenue 1 Appeal 3 Juniper Place 20 Applications on Hold for Lack of History 9 Applications to go to BOS 6/6/11 66 Total Pending Applications Appeals: 9 Independence Avenue Mr. Charles Cassell was on hand to discuss his appeal which asked the board to only go back one billing period in the case of 9 Independence Avenue as they has for 7 Blossomcrest. Mr. Cassell’s biggest issue is the fact that different rules were applied to the two cases and the methodology used to calculate the abatements. A discussion ensued. Mr. Wood stated that the rational used to differentiate the methodologies was based on the fact that 7 Blossomcrest continued to be billed and to pay the bills, whereas the Town failed to send bills to Mr. Cassell. Mr. Wood stated that no rulings have been made by the Board of Selectmen in this regard and he 1 C:\Documents and Settings\cfiore\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK143\APPROVED Minutes June 2 2011.doc Minutes Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board 201 Bedford Street Lexington, MA 02420 June 2, 2011 was willing to rescind the ruling and look more carefully at the situation in the future. It was moved by Mr. Osten, seconded by Ms. Constantinides and voted unanimously to rescind the language. Mr. Wood apologized for any misunderstanding and Mr. Cassell accepted his apology. It was moved by Mr. Osten, seconded by Ms. Constantinides and voted unanimously to confirm the previously voted on abatement to Mr. Cassell in the amount of $1,886.17. It was moved by Ms. Constantinides, seconded by Mr. Osten and approved unanimously to accept Mr. Cassell’s withdrawal of his appeal. 3 Juniper Place Leslie and Esmail Ghorbani of 3 Juniper Place were on hand to appeal the board’s decision of 3/1/2011 to approve an abatement of -$870.76 on a $2,084.68 water bill which resulted from toilet leaks. The Ghorbanis asked for further consideration because they were “silently victimized.” Mr. Wood explained that all water that goes through the MWRA’s meter is paid for by the Town of Lexington. The board is authorized to charge a lower tier rate on leaked water, but not to forgive its use. The couple was offered tips on how to determine if there is a leak by checking their meter. The Ghorbanis thanked the board for its time. Abatement requests for consideration: DOMESTIC LEAKS 21 Bertwell Road – APPROVED The homeowner applied for an abatement due to excessive usage caused by a leak. The homeowner was unaware that there was an old water line between the house and garage. That line burst, probably in the winter, and leaked underground undetected. We established a three year average usage of 33 to which we applied full water and sewer rates. The excess usage of 471 hcf was calculated at tier one water rates only because this leak did not enter the sewer system. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of $8,071.43. 10 Blake Road - APPROVED The homeowner filed for an abatement on bill #684252. He had a toilet leak fixed and has provided a copy of the receipt. We established his average usage for the same period as 64 hcf and recalculated the excess at tier one rates. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of ($2,000.66). 8 Briggs Road - WIHTDRAWN 12 Bryant Road - APPROVED The homeowner applied for an abatement of bill #661870 after discovering a toilet leak. He bought replacement parts and made the repair himself but did not keep the receipt. We established a three year average usage of 52 and charged the excess usage at the tier one rates. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of $314.43. 2 C:\Documents and Settings\cfiore\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK143\APPROVED Minutes June 2 2011.doc Minutes Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board 201 Bedford Street Lexington, MA 02420 June 2, 2011 10 Holton Road- APPROVED This application for abatement is being brought forth by staff. The owner passed away, the house was empty and slated for tear down. This past winter the builder discovered a pipe had burst and flooded the basement. The reading has been verified. Because the usage would have been zero, we will charge all of the water at tier one rates and because the leak did not enter the sewer system, we will abate the sewer charge altogether. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of $22.983.86. 823 Massachusetts Avenue- APPROVED The homeowner applied for an abatement on bill #678193 because the usage was higher than usual. He had a plumber replace one toilet and repair two others; he has provided a copy of the invoice. We established a three year average usage of 83 and calculated the excess usage at tier one rates. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of $1.201.82. 15 Moon Hill Road- APPROVED The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill # 679932. They have been out of state since last August and except for quick trips home, the house was essentially empty. A site visit revealed a leaking toilet; the homeowner hired a plumber (receipt attached) to repair it. We established a 3 year average usage and recalculated the excess at tier one rates. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of $3,369.78. 1 Potter Pond- APPROVED The homeowner applied for an abatement on bill #681276 because the usage was higher than usual. He had a plumber replace one toilet and repair two others; he has provided copy of the invoice. We established a three year average usage of 35 and calculated the excess usage at tier one rates. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of $77.40. RATE SUBSIDY 52 Dexter Road - APPROVED The homeowner applied for an abatement on bill #683657 after qualifying for a Rate Subsidy. This calculation reflects 30% off his original billing. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of $71.20. BILLING ISSUES 9 Carnegie Place – APPROVED The homeowner filed an application after receiving bill #678697. Research revealed that the reading was 264 and Autoread should have accepted the corrected reading but took the irrigation meter reading instead. The account should have been billed for 24 units. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of $1,200.96. 3 C:\Documents and Settings\cfiore\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK143\APPROVED Minutes June 2 2011.doc Minutes Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board 201 Bedford Street Lexington, MA 02420 June 2, 2011 22 Dane Road - APPROVED This house is empty and only visited occasionally. Our meter reader apparently misread the visual at 2237. The customer took and sent to us pictures of both the actual meter and the visual on the outside. The readings were only off by one at 2137 and 2138. We recalculated Bill #682770 at zero usage. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of $1,328.20. 1061-63 Massachusetts Avenue – WITHDRAWN 61 Meriam Street – APPROVED The homeowner applied for an application after receiving Bill #685666. Although the previous reading on the old meter was 104, when the meter change was entered into the system, Munis took the previous reading as zero and charged twice for the same 105 hcf. This calculation charges for 1 unit on the old meter and 31 units on the new meter. Staff recommends an abatement of $1,800.40. 319 Woburn Street - WITHDRAWN METER ISSUES 3 Appletree Lane – WITHDRAWN 7 Rockville Avenue – APPROVED This account was over charged because a new meter was installed backwards on 1/5/10. The spring 2011 reading was 9,973 which produced a bill for 9,970 hcf. The account had previously been charged 3 units. 10,000 - 9973= 27 less 3=24. Staffrecommends an abatement in the amount of $207,696.34. An error in the calculation was found and corrected and the board approved an abatement in the amount of $207,643.60. 20 Walnut Street – WITHDRAWN 232 Worthen Road - APPROVED This is an unused irrigation account that was charged in error. The meter came from the factory with a reading of 9,999 but has never been used. On bill #681396, the account was billed from 0- 9,999. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of -$59,594.04. It was moved by Mr. Osten, seconded by Ms. Constantinides and approved unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 6:45 pm. REDISTRIBUTIONS 421 Lowell Street – APPROVED This is a commercial property that has been vacant and the water was turned off since May 2009. The owner contacted us because we have continued to estimate usage since that time. We 4 C:\Documents and Settings\cfiore\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK143\APPROVED Minutes June 2 2011.doc Minutes Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board 201 Bedford Street Lexington, MA 02420 June 2, 2011 verified that the water was shut off. Staff recommends abating bills 636056-684710 for a total abatement of -$235.08. 4 Brown Road – APPROVED The homeowner read his meter and filled out a postcard but was late in mailing it due to travel. The customer read the meter on 4/19/11 at 104. We overestimated the reading at 115. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of $153.45. 7 Carmel Road – WITHDRAWN 9 Dane Road –WITHDRAWN 15 Fern Street – APPROVED The homeowner applied for an application after receiving Bill #679897. The previous bill had been estimated at zero and bill # 679897 reflects the usage of two billing periods. We established average daily usage times the number of days in each billing period to derive usage. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of $262.24. 15 Lawrence Street – WITHDRAWN 39 Saddle Club Road – APPROVED This account has been estimated for years. The homeowner called in a reading of 6128. A few days later staff read the meter at 6361 which confirmed the customer read and indicated a huge leak. When the meter was replaced, staff recognized that the meter only has five digits and we misinterpreted the reading. By taking the reading as 1263, a usage of 9 hcf results. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of $106,045.60. 165 Spring Street – WITHDRAWN 43 Woburn Street – WITHDRAWN Respectfully submitted, Robin Fullford Fund Manager 5 C:\Documents and Settings\cfiore\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK143\APPROVED Minutes June 2 2011.doc