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Home My WebLink About2012-05-31-WSAB-min(`OJ51 MOgryi'Y Minutes g o y r7s c Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board w 201 Bedford Street 3 x Lexington, MA 02420 APRIL 1 9'" INGT May 31, 2012 �� APPROVED 6/28/12 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, Erik Gitschier, Water /Sewer Superintendent, Arnold Lovering, Treasurer /Collector, Elizabeth Tucker and Robin Fullford, Utility Billing Chair Loren Wood called the meeting to order at 4:32 pm. The order of business was conducted as follows: 2 Hayes Lane - VFW Rob Addelson presented a calculation for abatement for 2 Hayes Lane which first filed for an abatement in 2008. The usage had been estimated for several years and then the meter was changed resulting in a large catch up bill. Three subsequent bills were committed to lien. A redistribution of usage back to 2002 appears to have been calculated. As a result of the lien, the three bills were paid twice. Ms. Constantinides voiced concern that this could happen again but Mr. Lovering explained the current system would not allow it. It was moved by Mr. Osten, seconded by Ms. Constantinides and approved unanimously to approve Mr. Addelson's recommendation for an abatement in the amount of $1,231.61 plus accumulated interest. (This decision was subsequently appealed and will be heard 6/28/12) Status Report Ms. Fullford provided a status report as follows: 29 To be heard tonight 75 Pending 104 Tota I Appeals: 8 April Lane — The appeal request for April Lane was discussed. The representative for the owner was unavailable but had requested a meter test. This appeal was put on hold until the meter is tested. 31 Fletcher Avenue — Attorney Elaine Tung and resident Dave Diaz were present to appeal the board's recommended abatement of $1,408.94 on Unit 11. Because we had informed the owners of a leak at Unit 11 and it turned out that the meters for 10 and 11 are switched, they asked the board to consider paying the plumber's bill incurred at Unit 11. The board could not agree to that. A recalculation of the abatement that includes three large bills was presented in the amount of - $2,841.50. It was moved by Mr. Osten, seconded by Ms. Constantinides and approved unanimously to approve the abatement recommendation of - $2,841.50. (Sent to BOS 6/18/12 meeting for approval. Owners waived 15 day appeal period because of an upcoming closing on 6/29/12) 1 (`OJ51 MOgryi'Y Minutes g o y r7s c Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board w 201 Bedford Street 3 x Lexington, MA 02420 APRIL 1 9'" INGT May 31, 2012 �� 156 Reed Street — Mrs. McKenna asked the board how they could be assessed for leaked water when they did not know they had a leak. Mr. Wood explained to her the policy established by the Board of Selectmen by which leaked water is abated to tier one rates. He stated the Town must recover the cost of the water and delivery from the homeowner. Mrs. McKenna thanked the board for its time. The formerly approved recommendation of an abatement in the amount of $138.96 was upheld. Approval of minutes: It was moved by Mr. Osten, seconded by Ms. Constantinides and voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the March 15, 2012 meeting as presented. It was moved by Mr. Osten, seconded by Ms. Constantinides and voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the April 5, 2012 meeting as amended. Disposition of Abatement Requests: Domestic Leaks 67 Baskin Road - The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #703998 for 109 hcf. The homeowner provided an invoice from Sweet Plumbing referencing the repair of two leaking toilets. We established the average fall usage at 84 hcf and recalculated the excess of 25 hcf at tier one rates. Abatement Recommendation $342.25 4 Clematis Road - The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #7039501for 219 hcf. A staff visit revealed toilet leaks which the homeowners had repaired and provided a plumber's receipt. We established the average spring usage at 62 hcf and recalculated all but 22 units at tier one rates. Abatement Recommendation $2,007.13 331 Concord Avenue The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #694874 for 345 hcf. A staff visit revealed a toilet leaking and in need of a new fluid master. The homeowner provided a receipt for the part. We established the 3 year fall average at 65 hcf and recalculated all but 25 units at tier one rates. Abatement Recommendation $3,714.70 8 Curve Street The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #706210 for 111 hcf. A staff visit revealed 2 toilets leaking in overflow and they were adjusted. Because this is a two - family residence and their spring average usage is less that 80 hcf, we recalculated all usage at tier one rates. $179.49 177 East Emerson Road The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #699263 for 133 hcf. This property has a separate meter for irrigation. A staff visit revealed leaking toilets in need of repair and confirmed that the new meter is working. A new meter was installed on 7/26/2008 and it stopped at 14 hcf. Subsequent readings were estimated based on past usage. For that reason, we went back to a more reliable period between 2005 and 2007 to establish the average usage at 63 hcf. All but 23 units have been recalculated at tier one rates. Abatement Recommendation $824.00 2 (`OJ51 MOgryi'Y Minutes g o y r7s c Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board w 201 Bedford Street 3 x Lexington, MA 02420 APRIL 19'" INGT May 31, 2012 5 Elena Road The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #703773 for 66 hcf. They state a spray nozzle sprung a leak that they were unaware of. Their average fall usage is 58. The excess of 8 units are recalculated at tier one rates with no sewer charge. Abatement Recommendation $99.76 17 Hilltop Avenue The homeowners called after receiving bill # 708460. A staff visit revealed a toilet in need of a new fluid master. The homeowners had the toilet repaired and provided a copy of the plumber's invoice. We established the spring average usage at 38 hcf and recalculated all usage at tier one rates. Abatement Recommendation $63.69 9 Munroe Road — Withdrawn due to a calculation error 57 Potter Pond The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #708967 for 71 hcf. The meter was changed and the outread confirmed the usage and the homeowner provided a plumbing invoice for toilet repairs. The average spring usage was established at 39 hcf and all usage was recalculated at tier one rates. Abatement Recommendation $179.49 57 Shade Street The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #703416 for 103 hcf. A staff visit revealed no leaks; however it was found that 2 toilets had recently been repaired. We established the average fall usage at 44 hcf and recalculated all but 4 units at tier one rates. Abatement Recommendation $523.31 3 Sunset Ridge The homeowners called about bill #695713 for 121 hcf. A staff visit revealed several leaks which the homeowners had repaired and provided a copy of the receipt. The bill is paid in full. We established the three year average fall usage at 47 hcf and recalculated all but 7 units at tier one rates. Because the leak persisted for six months after the original high reading on 9/15/2011, it is expected that the homeowners will file a second abatement on the spring bill as well. Abatement Recommendation $752.36 31 Taft Avenue The homeowner called after receiving bill # 707191. They were unaware of the abatement process and have filed an application for bill 693300 as well. A staff visit revealed a toilet leaking at the flapper and informed the homeowner. The homeowner provided proof of the toilet repair. We established the average usage for both spring and fall and recalculated the excess at tier one rates. Abatement Recommendation $1,339.95 16 Williams Road The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #697303 for 64 hcf and provided a store receipt for toilet parts purchased. We originally presented a recommendation to use derived average fall usage from the 10/19/2010 bill but the board asked staff to use the spring 2011 usage of 45 as average. All but 15 units have been recalculated at tier one rates. Abatement Recommendation $110.01 Meter /Billing Issues 73 Allen Street The homeowners applied for an abatement after receiving bill #708599 for 100 hcf. On 4/18/12 the meter was changed with an outread of 070292 confirming that we had over estimated the usage. We established an ADU of 0.17 and applied it to the number of days in the billing period resulting in a recommended abatement of $1,181.60 0 Park Drive (`OJ51 MOgryi'Y Minutes g o y r7s c Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board w 201 Bedford Street 3 x Lexington, MA 02420 APRIL 1 9'" INGT May 31, 2012 �� This is a Municipal account that until recently was serviced by a septic system. However, a Recreation Dept staff member erroneously told us that it was connected to sewer and we billed it accordingly. Further, Water Dept staff misinterpreted the reading and added a digit resulting in an overbilling. We derived usage at 30 hcf and recalculated. Abatement Recommendation $15,783.52 19 Peachtree Road The homeowner filed an abatement application on bill #705534, the make -up sewer billing of 1/20/2012 from the spring 2011 billing. The previous owners incurred the sewer bill but on 7/21/11 they sold the property to the applicants. Staff made an attempt to locate the previous owners but was unable to. We recommend the entire sewer bill #705534 be abated. Abatement Recommendation $213.49 19A Oakland Street Prior to the spring 2012 billing, staff misinterpreted tie cards and activated the sewer code on the property at 19A Oakland. There was only a tie card for 19 Oakland which does have sewer. Research proved and the Engineering Dept confirmed that 19A is on a septic System and we added it to the Board of Health Septic System data base. This calculation simply abates the sewer portion of bill # 713424. The sewer code has been inactivated for future billings. Abatement Recommendation $430.85 Redistributions 2 Wachusett Circle The homeowner applied for an abatement on bill #704042 which is a "catch -up" bill after three estimates after a new wire and pad were installed. The total usage is redistributed after establishing ADU of .30. Abatement Recommendation $336.64 7 Patriots Drive This irrigation account had been estimated since 2006 with an occasional postcard read. However, staff disregarded the readings and estimated the usage because they seemed so off base. The meter was replaced on 7/12/11 with an outread of 1029. As of 8/12/11 the new meter read was 0081, validating high usage of the irrigation system. We established ADU and applied it to the number of days in each billing period. Abatement Recommendation $284.46. (This decision was subsequently appealed and will be heard 6/28/12) 32 Wyman Road The homeowner applied for an abatement on bill #697404 after receiving a much more reasonable spring bill. Bill #697404 was a catch up bill after an estimate. We redistributed the usage back to the postcard read dated 10/26/2010. Abatement Recommendation $219.19 Visuals 748 Waltham Street The homeowner applied for an abatement on bill #694653. The large bill was the result of a visual reader that failed to keep up with the inside meter. The homeowner had no way of knowing that he was being under billed and we have no way of knowing when the two devices diverged. Staff recommends recalculating bill # 694653 at the derived usage of 45 on the new meter and disregarding the "catch up" usage of 80 hcf. Abatement Recommendation $1,062.43 343 Woburn Street — held to establish actual historical usage Water Main Replacement Massachusetts Avenue, 2261, 2591, 2412, 2619, and 2413 E (`OJ51 MOgryi'Y Minutes g o y r7s c Lexington Water and Sewer Abatement Board w 201 Bedford Street 3 x Lexington, MA 02420 APRIL 19'" INGT May 31, 2012 During the summer of 2011 the Town contracted to replace the water main under portions of Massachusetts Avenue. The properties that were affected were disconnected from the old main and fed water through a food grade house connected to their sill cocks from a hydrant. The homeowners were told by the Engineering Department that they would have unmetered water for the duration of the project; the project was completed in three months during a hot and dry summer. We had expected to see lower than usual usage at these properties. However, we heard from five residents whose usage made no sense because it was higher than usual. It also appeared that separate irrigation meters ran backwards for a period of time. Staff recommended recalculating one half of their average fall usage and abating the rest. It was moved by Mr. Osten, seconded by Ms. Constantinides and voted unanimously to approve to the abatement concept. Schedule future meeting date: The board will next meet on June 28, 2012. Adjourn It was moved by Ms. Constantinides, seconded by Mr. Osten and voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 7:15 PM. Respectfully submitted, Robin Fullford Fund Manager