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Home My WebLink About2011-07-14-WSAB-min Minutes Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board 201 Bedford Street Lexington, MA 02420 July 14, 2011 Approved 8/4/2011 Attendance: Board Members – Loren Wood, Chair; and Jim Osten, Member Maria Constantinides, Member, was not present. Staff: Rob Addelson, Assistant Town Manager for Finance; Bill Hadley, DPW Director; Elizabeth Tucker and Robin Fullford, Water/Sewer Enterprise Chair Loren Wood called the meeting to order at 4:39 pm. The order of business was conducted as follows: Minutes of the Meeting It was moved by Mr. Osten, seconded by Mr. Wood and voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the June 2, 2011 meeting as tendered. Approval of the June 23, 2011 minutes was postponed as only one member present had attended that meeting. Status Report Ms. Fullford provided a status report as follows: 19 To be heard tonight 2 Appeals 18 To go the BOS 8/1/11 25 Pending 14 On Hold 78 Total Abatement requests for consideration: DOMESTIC LEAKS 38 Eastern Avenue - APPROVED The homeowner filed for abatement after receiving bill #687047. He hired a plumber who repaired a toilet (receipt supplied). The three year average usage is 41. The excess usage of 30 units is recalculated using tier one rates resulting in a staff recommended abatement in the amount of -$154.80. 380 Marrett Road – APPROVED The homeowner filed an abatement application after receiving bill #691014. A staff visit confirmed the reading revealed leaking toilets. Staff adjusted one toilet and recommended a new fluid master for another. The homeowner provided a receipt for the repair. The 3 year average usage is 40 so we recalculated the entire usage at tier one rates. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of -$473.48. 1 Minutes Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board 201 Bedford Street Lexington, MA 02420 July 14, 2011 52 Pleasant Street – APPROVED The homeowner filed an abatement after receiving bill # 681192. The owner identified and repaired a toilet; a copy of the receipt was provided. We established the average usage at 120 and applied tier one rates to the excess usage of 246 hcf. The usage from 4/12/2010 was considered anomalous and was not used. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of -$2,221.60. Mr. Osten asked for clarification regarding staff’s judgment that one reading was anomalous and therefore not used in this calculation. Fullford stated that the 4/12/2010 usage of 28 would so skew the average that she decided to omit it thereby establishing an average usage of 120. 37 Preston Street – APPROVED The homeowners filed an abatement application after receiving bill # 683806. They state that a toilet was leaking intermittently and provided a copy of the plumber's invoice to repair the toilet. We established the average usage at 64 and applied tier one rates to the excess usage of 16 hcf. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of -$82.54. 2 Turnburry Road – APPROVED The homeowner filed an abatement after receiving bill # 691111. A site visit revealed toilets leaking badly. The homeowner has had them repaired and a copy of the receipt was provided. Only one prior same billing period was available and that was used as the average usage (26). We recalculated the usage and applied tier one rates to the excess usage of 45 hcf. Staff recommends a leak based abatement in the amount of -$159.96. 49 Ward Street – APPROVED The homeowner filed an abatement application after receiving bill #688531. A staff visit revealed three leaking toilets. The homeowner had the toilets repaired; the plumber's invoice is on file. Because the average seasonal usage is 39, we recalculated all the usage at tier one rates. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of -$558.46. Appeals APPEALS 21 Bertwell Road The homeowner withdrew his appeal stating that upon review of the calculations he decided the abatement previously approved was fair and equitable. 74 Fifer Lane Mr. David Libman was on hand to appeal the board’s decision of 6/23/2011 to approve an abatement in the amount of -$170.88. The board offered to have staff review the calculation with the possibility of submitting a recalculation at a future meeting. Mr. Libman thanked the board for its consideration. 2 Minutes Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board 201 Bedford Street Lexington, MA 02420 July 14, 2011 BILLING ISSUES 421 Concord Avenue - APPROVED The homeowner called after receiving bill #690807. A site visit revealed that the meter had been misread causing an over billing. The meter was replaced with an outread of 2211. The usage for the spring billing period is derived at 17. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of -$969.47. 9 Dane Road - WITHDRAWN 15 Diana Lane – APPROVED The homeowner filed an abatement application after receiving bill #687997. A postcard read was received at 03957. Staff interpreted this as a rollover, the previous reading having been 921. The application states the reading was 962 on 6/1/2011. It now is clear that the postcard read was incorrect, that the homeowner interpreted a gear as a 3. This is a common error homeowners make when reading older meters. We recalculated the usage based on average daily usage at 38. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of -$1370.92. 10 Muzzey Street - WITHDRAWN 32 Vaille Avenue – APPROVED The homeowner called after receiving bill #688438. A site visit revealed that the meter reading had been over estimated causing an over billing. The meter had a reading of 1013 on June 8, 2011. The usage for the spring billing period is derived at 39. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of -$1002.97. 34 Wachusett Drive – APPROVED This account was purchased as a tear down but we were never notified. We were unable to get an outside reading so we estimated two bills. The account had been put in the new owner's names but they did not get the bills because they are not living there, hence the delayed recognition. Staff recommends abating the two bills entirely at -$527.40. 37 Wachusett Drive – WITHDRAWN REDISTRIBUTIONS 91 Bridge Street – WITHDRAWN 35 Hartwell Avenue – Irrigation – WITHDRAWN 35 Hartwell Avenue – Domestic – WITHDRAWN 113 Hartwell Avenue – WITHDRAWN 7 Sutherland – WITHDRAWN 3 Minutes Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board 201 Bedford Street Lexington, MA 02420 July 14, 2011 6 Tewksbury Street – APPROVED The homeowner called after receiving bill #688168. This account had been estimated for several years. The meter was replaced with an outread of 3244 on 6/7/2011. The usage for the spring billing period is derived at 19. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of -$1,161.19. 20 Walnut Street – APPROVED In May, 2008 this property was sold. In June, 2008, in anticipation of the demolition of the house on the property, the meter was removed. Building and demolition permits were issued in July, 2008. In January, 2009, a new meter was installed in the house under construction. A certificate of occupancy was issued for the house in April, 2009. In September, 2009 bill #632626 was issued for 183 HCF. The owners filed for an abatement and were granted an abatement of $2,486.13. In November, 2010, upon receipt of bill #663691, the owners filed another application for abatement. On or about that time it was determined that the meter numbers for the domestic and irrigation meters at this address were posted to MUNIS incorrectly; that is, the irrigation meter was posted to the domestic account and visa versa. This resulted in the domestic account being billed for irrigation usage and the irrigation account being billed for domestic usage. Upon further review, it was determined that the abatement granted for bill #632626 was based on a domestic bill issued reflecting usage (183 HCF) that should have been billed to the irrigation account. Taking all these factors into consideration, an abatement of the domestic account of -$4,320.03 is recommended. This will be offset by a recommended upward adjustment to the irrigation account of $1,456.69 for a net abatement between the two accounts of -$2,863.34. It was moved by Mr. Osten, seconded by Mr. Wood and voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 6:14 PM. Respectfully submitted, Robin Fullford Fund Manager 4