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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-11-17-WSAB-min�5 M °RN Minutes o¢` its ' "Q n u r Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board 201 Bedford Street s n Lexhngton 11/(0 02420 AIPRC1"' ! NG"� November 17, 2011 FX APPROVED 1/ 26 / 2012 Attendance: Board Members: Loren Wood, Chair, and Jim Osten, Member Maria Constantinides,.Member, was not present. Staff: Bill Hadley, DPW Director, Erik Gitschier, Water /Sewer Superintendent, and Robin Fullford, Utility Manager Chair Loren Wood called the meeting to order at 4:35 pm. The order of business was conducted as follows: Status Report Ms_ Fullford provided a status report as follows: 19 To be heard tonight 38 Pending 7 On Hold 64 Total Ah"aLc eao. rcqua'sws 1 si avirsiivaia`aris : DOMESTIC LEAKS 10 Doran Farm Road - APPROVED The homeowner lives in Israel for 11 months of the year and rents the house while she is away. Until recently this had been one of three units on one meter. On 6 /15 /10 when Ms. Koplow purchased the unit, a new, separate meter was installed. The spring 2011 bill # 686648 was unusually high and that prompted us to pursue the owner. After mailing a letter to the owner, we eventually heard from Ms. Koplow, the owner's mother. She told us there had been a leak and provided us with a plumbing receipt dated 8/30/2011 and completed an application for abatement. To avoid having to wait until after the next spring billing, staff suggests using an average of the 2 fall bills available to establish an average usage of 76 hef. The usage in excess of the average is 169 and that is calculated at tier one rates resulting in a staff recommended abatement of $2,063.01. 21 Hathaway Road - APPROVED The owner applied for an abatement on bill #s 667431 and 685021 after a staff leak inspection that revealed two leaking toilets. The homeowner had the toilets repaired and supplied a plumbing repair bill. Based on past 3 year fall average usage of 33 hcf, and past spring usage of 27, all of the usage is recalculated at tier one rates. An abatement of $196.08 is recommended. y vS More 1775 E Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board x 201 Bedford Street i .?xingfon, MA 02420 APRII W' November 17, 2011 E X7NGr 0 1536 Massachusetts Avenue -- APPROVED The owner applied for an abatement on bill # 664727 for 517 hcf on 11/29/10. The application was accompanied by a letter from Eastern Brothers landscaping who state this irrigation system was damaged resulting in a leak that was discovered when water entered the home's basement. Because little history was available, we waited until after the fall 2011 read of 1043 to establish average usage of 170. The excess usage of 347 hcf was recalculated at tier on rates resulting in a staff recommended abatement of -- $1,020.18. 1 Park Street - APPROVED The owner applied for an abatement on bill # 688566 after a staff leak inspection that revealed two Ieaking toilets and a faucet. The homeowner had the repairs done and supplied a plumbing repair bill. Based on past 3 year average usage of 37 hcf, all of the usage is recalculated at tier one rates. An abatement of - $365.88 is recommended. 38 Philip Road - APPROVED The homeowner applied for an abatement after receiving bill #693790. He stated that he had had a leaking toilet repaired and provided a plumber's invoice. Based on the past 3 year average usage of 33 hcf, all of the usage is recalculated at tier one rates. An abatement of - $28.95 is recommended. 31 Skyview Road - APPROVED Ley-hab filed a leak -based application after a leak inspection revealed a leaking toilet at this single family home. They had the leak repaired and provided a plumber's receipt. We established a three year average use of 76 and recalculated all but 36 hcf at tier one rates resulting in a staff recommended abatement of - $194.93. 15 Summer Street - APPROVED The owner applied for an abatement on bill # 679003 after a staff leak inspection revealed a recently replaced fluid master. This calculation establishes a three year average usage of 46 hcf, however, bill number 590518 from 312712008 was omitted because it was so uncharacteristically low. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of - $175.44. REDISTRIBUTIONS 48 Potter Pond - APPROVED At t_he EvlflCiY'Ig, it [x)aC that the di VC`!w \TPTPld ha l . i "m e — —ratio t �: ual dd t" ct,, 1 e s - k V . F -1, YYi ll lll�. a c t,, meter and a catch up bill was issued for 126 hcf. The previous owner paid the final bill # 673849 prior to the closing. There is no way of knowing when the visual began to fail and at what rate. Also, there are no anchors so staff took a redistribution back three years. This results in a recommended abatement to the previous owner in the amount of - $579.62 The board determined that 9/22/2008 was when the two readings diverged. 2 US MOO? Minutes X773 '�'tr n a Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board Q- 201 Bedford Street T eYinbtop Alf 02420 " " M- 7N November 17, 2011 fXG"� 75 School Street - APPROVED The homeownwner responded to a large bill from a postcard read that followed an estimate. A chaser revealed no leaks. This calculation redistributes usage back to the last actual read and results in a staff recommended abatement of - $116.94. 43A Woburn Street - WITHDRAWN BY STAFF BILLING ISSUES 36 Albermarle Avenue - APPROVED The homeowner applied for an abatement after receiving bill #69215 8 for 210 hcf. Research revealed that a reading error occurred and the original "A" read was overridden by a manual entry that was for another account. A note was placed on the bill suggesting the possibility of a leak and inviting the customer to call for a Ieak inspection. This calulation uses the correct usage of 32 hcf and results in a staff recommended abatement of $3,755.70. 82 Buckman Drive - APPROVED The homeowner called after receiving bill 4693888. He had read his meter at 4490 in 1119 /11. Staff verified the reading. The reading obtained for the billing was misinterpreted creating an overbilling. The bill was recalculated by establishing ADU and applying that to the elapsed days resulting in a staff recommended abatement of - $7,613.97. 95 Grove Street — APPROVED The homeowner applied for an abatement on bill 4689119. This account has been estimated at 5 hcf since 1994 and staff had made several attempts over the years to get the meter changed but the homeowner refused to allow us entry. Staff over estimated the spring 2011 bill which prompted the homeowner to apply for an abatement. The meter was removed on 8/5/11 at 525. There was an "A" read in 1992 of 653 which indicates the meter rolled over at some point and an additional 872 hcf were used over the course of the next 37 billings. This represents an average of 24 hcf per billing. If the numbers can be relied on, this represents a large under billing over many years. There is no reasonable anchor from which to begin recalculations and no way to derive usage_ Because this account has clearly been under billed, staff recommends no abatement. 35 'Hartivel1 Avenue - APPROVED This is an industrial account with a 2" Sensus meter. It was discovered at the spring 2011 billing that we have been dropping a digit (a photograph confirms the reading at 354,327.31 or 3543). We put a note on the bill that we have been under billing and the owner could file for an abatement. We went back to an A reading that was under 1,000 and redistributed usage from 873 to 3543. However it was also discovered that this is an irrigation account that has been charged at 100 /200 rates thus the sewer component was 3 ¢` uS MQgNlry Minutes 1, tt r Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board 4 a nW > 201 Bedford Street - L exi ngtnn, M A 02420 „PVI` ! n6 November 17, 2011 fx removed and adjusted in the calculation. The result is an abatement in the amount of $55,761.75, most of which is the abatement of sewer charges. This case was previously presented to WSAB but withdrawn due to fence post issues. It was rejected again for the purpose of satisfying the board that the account is indeed irrigation only. Erik Gitschier has verified that this is an irrigation meter. 546 Lowell Street - APPROVED This account was estimated since 1991 because the homeowner did not return any postcards. When the meter was changed, the outread was 555, indicating the meter had stopped years ago. There is no way to know if the account was over or under estimated. Furthermore, 2005 - 2010 water bills have been unpaid and sent to lien. The homeowner is not eligible for an abatement and staff recommends denying an abatement. 120 Massachusetts Avenue Domestic Account- APPROVED T leis is a staff generated abatement. The homeowners died in an automobile crash on 8/22/2009 and the house has been empty since. The water was shut off at the street on 3/2/11 when water was observed running from the house because pipes had frozen and burst. The domestic ureter was removed at 763 which indicates that estimated bill #660534 should be abated entirely. Additionally, because bill #642868 was the result of an inside leak, the entire usage is considered leaked water and is recalculated at tier one rates with no sewer. This results in a staff recommended abatement of - $3473.11. 120 Massachusetts Avenue Irrigation Account- APPROVED This is a staff generated abatement. The homeowners died in a crash on 81 Z-009 and the house has been empty since. The irrigation meter was removed at 67 which indicates that estimated bill #660535 should be abated entirely. This results in a staff recommended abatement of - $119.20. 561 Massachusetts Avenue - APPROVED The Lexington Housing Authority applied for an abatement on 11/18/2008 on Bill 4606813 because the account had not been billed as a 2 unit residence and should have been. Subsequent bills do allow for a 2- family and are correct. Staff completed a calculation in 2009 but no further action was taken. A good faith payment was received. The Revenue Office committed the balance on the bill to lien on 12/19/08 in error. A representative of the Housing Authority is now pursuing the abatement. Because it appears that this office neglected to complete the application process, staff recommends awarding the abatement bel ow despite the -lance of tuna T" tb ;S ��3 ,,ln� + ;�,+. I-1-ca u, ' ��+ �x�v wY V. 1 elf! Vu1V Ut ti Vlt, V4lCLµse f LA A.Is lil a L family, the first 80 hef are charged at tier one rates. Staff recommends an abatement in the amount of - $527.96 and any interest that accrued on the bill before and after it was committed to lien. 0 Park Drive - HELD FOR FURTHER REVIEW 4 i ils Moi.? Minutes p I773' o ; a Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board $a i 201 Bedford Street j . T g l o p ? NL Q non 20 APRIL 1'r eN tl November 17, 2011 25 Walnut Street - APPROVED The former homeowners applied for an abatement on their final bill. This residence was tied in to sewer for the first time on 5/9/11. The meter had previously been read on 4/5/2011. The final bill dated 8.'25.'2011 charged the entire billing period for sewer. This calculation establishes the ADU for water at 0.71 hcf. Applying the ADU to the period of time that sewer was in place, results in a recommended abatement in the amount of $333.21. The next meetings were scheduled for December 8, 2011 and January 12, 2012 It was moved by Mr. Osten, seconded by Mr. Wood and voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 5:34 PM. Respectfully submitted, Robin Fulltord Fund Manager 5