Agenda 04/12/2011 Item # 6A
4/12/2011 Item 6.A.
Office of the County Manager
Leo E. Ochs, Jr.
3299 Tamiami Trail East, Suite 202' Naples Flonda 34112-5746' (239) 252-8383' FAX: (239) 252-4010
March 30, 2011
Mr. John O. Elliott
799 Crossfield Circle
Naples Fl 34104
Re: Public Petition request from Mr. John O. Elliott asking the 80ard to consider an adjustment to
his water bill
Sent Via E-Mail perPetitioner.sRequest:ioeelliottfarms@Jaol.com
Dear Mr. Elliott,
Please be advised that you are scheduled to appear before the Collier County Board of Commissioners at
the meeting of April 12, 2011, regarding the above referenced subject.
Your petition to the 80ard of County Commissioners will be limited to ten minutes. Please be advised
that the 80ard will take no action on your petition at this meeting. However, your petition may be
placed on a future agenda for consideration at the Board's discretion. If the subject matter is currently
under litigation or is an on-going Code Enforcement case, the Board will hear the item but will not
discuss the item after it has been presented. Therefore, your petition to the 80ard should be to advise
them of your concern and the need for action by the Board at a future meeting.
The meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. in the Board's Chambers on the Third Floor of the W. Harmon Turner
Building (8uilding "F") of the government complex. Please arrange to be present at this meeting and to
respond to inquiries by Board members.
If you require any further information or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact this office.
SinC~reIY/ '
~A ~~t:? .;z
Mike Sheffield
Business Operations Manager
MJS:mjb
cc: Jeffrey Klatzkow, County Attorney
Jim Delony, Public Utilities Administrator
Paul Mattausch, Water Department Director
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4/12/2011 Item 6.A.
COLLIER COUNTY
Board of County Commissioners
Item Number: 6.A.
Item Summary: Public Petition request from Mr. John O. Elliott asking the Board to
consider an adjustment to his water bill.
Meeting Date: 4/12/2011
Prepared By
Name: BrockMary.lo
Title: Executive Secretary to County Manager, CMO
3/3012011 10:23:25 AM
Submitted by
Title: Executive Secretary to County Manager, CMO
Name: BrockMary.lo
3/3012011 10:23 :26 AM
Approved By
Name: SheffieldMichacl
Title: Manager-Business Operations, CMO
Date: 3/3012011 10:29:47 AM
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4/12/2011 Item 6.A.
i
FAX
COVER PAGE
DATE:
L( / <-( - 'Z-o \)
3/29/20H
TO: Mr. Michael Sheffield FROM: Mr. John O. Elliott
COMPANY: County Manager's Office COMPANY:
(239)252-8383 CELL
OFFICE #: _. . .__ n : (816)365-0172
239-252-4010
FAX#: HOME #: (816)365-0172
FAX#: 816-734-5852
A7TN I (Y}fjRj-JD B~<<-l
--
NUMBER OF PAGES SENT (including this cover page) :
14
COMMENTS:
FORM ATTACHED: Request to Speak under Public Petition.
Your response may be emailed to : joelliottfarms@aol.com
Thank you.
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4/12/2011 Item 6.A.
Reauest to Speak under Public Petition
Please print
Name:
JOHN O. ELLIOTT
799 CROSSFIELD CIRCLE
NAPLES, FLORIOA 34104
Address:
Phone:
(816)365-0172
Date of the Board Meetinc YOU wish to soeak:
4/12/2011
Please email confirmation to:
Must circle yes or no: JOEL L IOTTF ARMS@ao 1 . com
Is this subject matter under litigation at this time? Yes ~
Is this subject matter an ongoing Code Enforcement case? Yes @
Note: If either answer is "yes", the Board will hear the item but will have no
discussion regarding the item after it is presented.
Please explain in detail the reason you are recuestinc to speak (attach additional
pace if necessary):
See Attached Detail
Please explain in detail the action YOU are askinc the Commission to take (attach
additional pace if necessary):
See Attached Action Detail
H:\Mary-Jo\Public Petition Request Form - 2008 new form.doc
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4/12/2011 Item 6.A.
Please eXDlain in detail the reason YOU are reauestinl!: to sDeak:
Detail 1). My wife Victoria and I, of 799 Crossfield Circle, Naples, Florida, as Citizens, and for the
welfare and protection of fellow Collier County residents, respectfully wish to make known an
abnormally high water bill, in the amount of $1100 which we were assessed at our799 Crossfield Circle
(Maplewood Villa development) residence, for no apparent reason on our part, for the billing period,
Sept. 18 to Oct. 19,2010, as registered by the electronic LCD digital water meter installed at our
residence.
During the period indicated, the meter began steadily registering hi-levels, approximated 4250 gallons
per 24 hour period, and then suddenly stopped on its own, without any intervention on our part.
We dutifully regard water to be a precious resource worth saving, and recognize that Florida as well as
other states are doing their part to prevent unnecessary use of this precious commodity, and so are
we.
(Attachment 1: copy of our $1100 water bill).
Detail 2). The registered usage for the $1100 water bill is out-of-Iine with our average water
consumption.
Over the last 18 months, our average monthly water usage has registered approximately 7,000 gallons
of water. The reading usage, ofthe $1100 water bill, indicates in excess of 127,000 gallons of water
was registered for the period noted. Which would be enough to fill approximately 6; 14X42 (6ft deep,
3ft shallow) pools. We do not own a pool.
(Attachment 2: spreadsheet of our water usage over the last 18 month period).
JetaiI3). Upon notification of the $1100 water bill, our neighbor was contacted, who immediately did
a walk-thru of our home and found no evidence of running water or water damage. Our neighbor also
checked to ensure no water had entered our home from the outside perimeter. Our neighbor also
checked the chain and pad-lock on our outside water valve, to ensure it was securely locked in place. It
is installed as a security measure to prevent unwarranted use of our water, from our outside water
valve, when we are away. It was locked.
In addition, we consulted with applicable businesses to inspect our residence for any evidence of water
damage both inside and outside of our home.
We contacted a professional plumbing company, Coastal Plumbing, who checked our property for
leaks. Also, we contacted an irrigation system company, Gulf Coast Irrigation who checked our
sprinkler system for operational defects.
Landscape Owner, Mr. Larry Sisco was contacted, and confirmed his landscape team maintains our
property a minimum of two times a week and found no unusual water damage evidence during the
period noted. Our landscape company is contracted through our Villas of Maplewood Association, of
which Mr. Ed Boot of Greenwood Management Company is the Manager.
No evidence of leaking water or excessive water damage was found by any of these professionals or
our neighbor.
(Attachment 3A: Coastal Plumbing statement. Attachment 38: Gulf Coast Irrigation statement.).
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4/12/2011 Item 6A
Pa~e 2.
Detail 4). To our knowled~e, we are the only residents in our MapleWood Villa development with an
electronic LCD digital water meter and suspect the meter may have experienced a technical
abnormality which produced this 127,000 p;allon water readinp;.
DetailS). Our research, relative to abnormally hi~h water bills. indicates other Florida residents also
received abnormally hip;h water bills durinp; the same period, as well as residents utilizin~ the electronic
water meters in other states. Huge water bills have been recorded in Tampa, Florida; Cleveland, Ohio;
Charlotte, N.C.; as well as Brockton, Mass. Causes included meter read errors; eQuipment failures due
to broken or malfunctioninp; meters; human errors; billinp; multiplier errors; and meter installation
discrepancies. CNN publicized their investip;ation of abnormally hiRh water bills received in Atlanta,
Georp;ia. One resident in particular, Ms. Wilda Cobb an attorney for the Environmental Protection
Ap;ency, was billed in excess of $10,000.00.
(Attachments 4: Articles indicating other high water bills).
Please explain in detail the action YOU are asklnl! the Commission to take:
1). We wish to respectfully Petition the Board to review our water usage history and to respectfully
consider an adjustment to our $1100.00 water bill based on our average water usage over the last 18
months prior to our $1100 service bill.
2). We also respectfully Petition the Board, to further investigate for a "root cause" to ascertain what
caused our electronic digital water meter to register such an abnormally high reading.
3). In addition, we respectfully Petition for further investigative reviews, evaluation, and testing ofthe
functioning of electronic LCD digital water meters be accomplished, so as to ascertain their reliability
before being installed onto any other Collier County water customers.
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Collier C~
ACCOUNT NUMBER:
JSTOMER NAME:
tlERVlCE ADDRESS:
MAJUNG ADDRESS:
05701540402
El..UOTT, JOHN
799 CROSSFIELD CIR
1203 IE ELU01T RD
LAlHROP. MO ll4486-8501
4/12/2011 Item 6.A.
442D ..~. Ave n.......,. 1;1;.1"1'..
NIpIIe, FIaddIl34104 _ c . Ip.lllt
ACCOUNT SUMMARY AS OF
PAYMENT RECEIVED ON 1CW11f10
PREVIOUS BAlANCE
CURRENT CHARGES
...
TOTAL AMOUNT DUE:
10125110
88.11
0.00'
1,100.79
1,100.79
~..';'-"
NlIic Ulilies Diviskx1
UlIIIly BiIIng & Customer Service
MEH R snWfcr r.k"TEi'l Me.~ .,- I hAt:;!:
RI:TERi:NCElSI7F fROM fROM -ju- - (1000 GAL)
w.- Service
s.. Service.
~CIWIGES
1,019.21
81,.58
1140B459 3I<r' OQI1Bf10 11J(19f10 B9
198
127
,
-....-. -,., . _. ---..-.-- -_.- -_.- -.'
YOUR MONTHL YWATER USAGE HISTORY
GAllONS USED X 1000
IMPOfITANT~.aGE
121
95
63
31
o
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C~ier CC"'~ a-._belnus.___....U.s._
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4420 Mercantile Ave. Naples, Florida 34104
PHONE: (239) 252-2380
c""c,."'....,:-, , <'"co, __,,,. ~<l'.I::>,;:;":""'_.. ..=,,_
2199 1 MB 0.382 9-8
,'...ILnIP....III.......nHJo+.."..................
ELUOTT, .IOHN
12113 HE EUJOTT RD
LATHROP,IIO tt.,r 8501
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STATEIEIIT DATE CUIlIlEHT CHARGES ACCOUNT IIIIIIIlER
10125/'10 1,100.79 05701540402
_DATE TDl'AL _ AMCMIIr""" ftIII:ft
111Wl10 1,100.79
.
CuAolnel .......: El..UOTT, JOHN
ServIce~: 799 CROSSFIElD ClR
111
~ I II:It COUNTY UTft.JTY... I IUO
PO _748748
~1l, llH 411iZ74041748
"..
(J.O. ElllOTT/PUBlIC PETITION: Attachment 1.)
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4/12/2011 Item 6A
METER READINGS: 11/17/2008 TO 01/18/2011
799 CROSSFIELD CIRCLE
NAPLES, FlORIDA
.---- -1---
-- t ~~::"'" '""' & v;~: m'OTI u~,
I METER # DATE FROM READING TO READING (1000 GAL)
, ----l 57992038 11/17/20081 92 12/18/2008 105 13
1 I" 12/18/2008 105 112112009 117 12
____~~I-_ =-j :: ~~l~~~:im~~~_~~ - ~;~:$_~~ ---~~~ - ~~-=-Er ____I-~
--- __L 4' - __Y16/2009 141 r-.4/16/2009 148 7
, " 4/16120091 148 $/15/2009' 155 7, ,
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__~-- __ --"-__2/17/200'}" 185 _ ! 10/15/2()()~1._18!J..._t_ _ 4 ------i------+-----
I "i 10/15/2009 189 : 11/17/2009' 195 6 I 1
---.--~~-ll~645~1l~~~-~~I~=~-1~5 _?~~~;~0~- _ -:6_~ '-- :; r---~~--
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______ -- I--____-L (J.O. Elliott/public Petition: Attachment 21._
---r-I----'--.- '-j'
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"
4/12/2011 Item 6.A.
:-
Coastal
Plumbing
& MECHANICAL CORPORATION
February 11,2011
To Whom It May Concern:
REF: 799 Crossfield Circle
Naples, Florida 34104
Owned by: Mr. John Elliot
1203 N.E. Elliot Road
Laphrop, MO 64465-8501
On December,28,2010~we were. called tOIDvestigate and repair a possible water line
leak at 799 Crossfield Circle in Naples, Florida Mr. Elliot had recently received an
exuberant water bill and was concerned as no one was in residence.
We dispatched a technician to perfonn this service and it was his conclusion that there
were no leaks within the water line leading to dwelling from the meter. He informed Mr.
Elliot of his findings and told him that there may be a leak at the meter or within his
sprinkler system, or worst case, someone was stealing their water. __0 "__
If you have any questions or concerns with regard to the service provided to this
residence do not hesitate to give us a call.
Very Truly Yours,
Coastal Plumbing & Mechanical Corporation
(J.O. ELLIOTT/PUBLIC PETITION: Attachment 3A.)
950 Commercial Boulevard . Naples. FL 341 04 . Naples: (239) 643-FAST . Fax: [239J 643-3436
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4/12/2011 Item 6.A.
GULFCOAST IRRIGATION. INC.
2316 PINE RlOOE ROAD #311
NAPLES, FL 34109
OFFICE: (239) 434-6259
FAX: (239)-430-7872
!.!ci63 0 J rwvahoo.com
January 6, 2011
Mr. John Elliott
799 Crossfield Circle
Naples, FL 34104
Re: Water usage for sprinkler system
Dear Mr. Elliott,
On January 3, 2011 our technician examined your sprinkler system and time clock to
evaluate your monthly water usage. The following information is based on how the time
clock was set at the time of our arrival.
Your time clock was set for two days a week with two start times each day. This meant
your sprinkler system was operating four times a week. The system has three zones.
Zone number one uses sixteen gallons of water per minute and runs for fourteen minutes
each time the system nms. Zone number two uses twelve gallons per minute and runs for
eight minutes each time the system runs. Zone number three uses twenty-one gallons per
minute and runs for fifteen minutes each time the system runs,
Using this information we calculate that your system uses ten thousand one hundred and
sixty (10,160) gallons of water per month.
Also during our eXArninAtion we noted that no water was flowing thrutbe meier when
everything was off and we found no leaks or breaks in the system.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at anytime.
Thank you,
P74-4/~
Gary A. Withstandley
Gulfcoast Irrigation, Inc.
U.O. ElLlOTT/PU8L1C PETITION: Attachment 3B.l
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4/12/2011 Item 6A
::=:~~~!~=_~_______________________________..______.._________:p!t~t!1!!~_~!~_!Y_
Tampa neighborhood hit by high wate.' bills
BY STACIE SCHAIBLE
News ~, 8
"
Residents who live in 1he Tampa """gJdVWhnnd of 0- Shores have .........dIy figunld out they have
SOIIledIing in co...n..nn aD 0 ''''''''''''11y high waIa' biDs.
In many cases, 1he waIa' biDs are himlIRlds of dollars _1han 1bcirpast biDs.
"We were at $41.40 the previous bin aod _ weot to $854.47. Not what you want to see right before
Christmas," 0- Shores homeowner' Jen Oldel- said.
HomeowJIllr Colleen Quinn-..4~ who also lives in 0- SIJlll'es. said: "We IP."lbM it was a
. . =-.z:..-'.I-.' hl hid' "
community JSSUC, not an WWYWUlll ....- '" IlISUC.
Quinn-Adams llll.d..d co1Iecting c:opies ofher neigJ>hnrs' waIa' bills. She fouod 17 ueigJ>hnrs who bad
received higher water bills at the end of2010_
Quinn-Adams said she fmmd "a $SOO [biB) fur a ........... who lives alooe; a $350 [bill] for a home
that is vacant, that oobody's lived in siDl:e A ~: she said.
The neighbors say their water bills are usually under $100, but IIOW they have doubled, 1rip1ed, and,
in some cases, quadrupled. In one case,1Ill8rly a 5,000 pcrceot mc...toSC. fuJm 1he JRVious bill.
The Tampa Watm" o...-tu..:...4 is iny. -igPtirlg. but a 8pol"....._., says it may take a week to determine
the aa:macy of the biDs.
Spok""""Rn Eli Franco said 1he ~tu-4 did an ~ dlismoming aod 1Ouod that one Dana
Shores customr:r "puit",.:..lly has some leaks inside their house, which _ _ able to poiot out to
them by the spmmllg of1he metrz." . . .
"We found some broken sprinkler heads. which inmtW.- when they're irri~ they're wasting
water as _11: he said.
Homeowner DeIores Euhan~ who also liYes in 0- Shon:s, says she got her high waIa' biIl1he day
before CInisImas Eve and "it mined my Cbl:isJ....... "
Elll"mh has lived in her house fur De8dy 50 years and said her water bills usually run about $50 to
$60. Her December water bill was $563.
Older said the waIa'~tu..:...4 scm: _..... out to naihermetrz. "They -.;....Ily said this is it;
this is lICClll1Ite," she said.
"I'm thinkiJ,g there was something ~..d wrong. 1he IDClet' ~ a new "ylllt:w, I don't know,"
Older said. "They haven't given us any answcrs."
http://www2.tho.comlCl1lltP.lVI20111jao1l1/11161~.m..oos.bit-by-higb-wak:r_ 3fl:TflO11
110. ELLlOlT/PUBLlC PETITION: Attachment 4.
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Print This Article
Pa2e20f2
4/12/2011 Item 6A
Quinn-Adams said she was told by the water departmcot to check for leaks at her residence, such as a
leaking sprinkler head.
"My guess is something is going on with the meter 1"""nir1g, but we haven't heard tbat," she said. "I
think somebody should come out and speak: to us or at Ieast acknowledge there is an issue, obviously
there is. n
Quinn-Adams said one neighbor paid a plumba: to come out twice and Paid a 1"f'd""'lpCt to check her
sprinkler heads. "They're 5P"""'ing DlllIJe}' and the:y'rc DOt getting any results," she said.
(j.0_ ELUOlT/PUBUC PETITION: Attachment 4
http://wwwZ_tbo.comIcontentflOllljanllllI116141tw.up..-neighbOIboods-_by-bigh-water... 3/27/20 II
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SOCIETY'S CHILD
4/12/2011 Item 6.A.
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AtIanla -Imagine paying as much 'for water as you do for your
mortgage.
Residelds throughout AtIanla are Outraged by hundreds, even
thousands of dollars in monthly spikes in their water bills, and have
questioned the legitimacy of the charges for years. Now, they're
demanding answers.
"I thought we were sinking in a hole of water," said Debbi
Scarborough. "It scared me to death. I thought we had a major leaf
when I got the bill."
Over two months last summer, her family's monthly water biD, shot
up to $1,805 In July and then $1,084 in August, leaving a balance
due of more than $3,000. She said in the past her bill has average!
$200 to $250.
"f'mnotpaying a $3,000 bill. And fu. tt.O$& three months. we were pretty much out of towrt-most of the
time and there's no leaks," she said, showing CNN a copy of her plumber's report.
The city installed a device on her meter to track daily usage. In the meantime, Scarborough's bill
remains unpaid while she disputes the charges.
She is not alone.
While similar complaints about huge water bill spikes have popped up in Cleveland, Ohio; Charlotte.
North Carolina; Tampa. Aorida; and BrockIDn, MnrPChtrr Ih.. it appears that the issue has lasted the
longest in AtIanta_
See ho\.~" to:., 50 c!ties rank
It's led to a c1ass-action lawsuit, counUess meetings with city allicials and continuing complaints from
fed-up residents.
Thousands of residents who have seen unusual spikes have ~ their high water bills. Just last
year, the city issued crecllts totaling $466.368 to custo.llerS_
Atlanta, with more than 500,000 residents, says it already has the highest water rates of any major city
in the United states, due in part to federal consent deaees to overhaul the city's water supply
infrastructure.
Many of the problems arose after the insIaIIalion of new, autDmalBd water meters. which began nearly
five years ago. and involved conlnlcls for meIer inslaIIatlons. the ele -bUllic meters and software
equipment.
-- http://www.sott.net/articleslsbowI225327-Skyrocketing-water-bills-mystify-aoger-residents 3/21/2011
!J.D. EllIDTI/PUBLlC PETmON: Attachment 4.\
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Theautomated meter-reading technology eliminal8sthe need for city workers to n 4/12/2011 Item 6A
meter. Instead, they retrieve the data by driving by each property. The meter alB ~uIliCally transmlls
data showing the amount of water ueed.
From the beginning, there were problems.
In 2007, city auditors found they __"unabIe to verify eh bvnic meter reacrmgs" because of "meter
read erJ'OflJ, equipment failures or hLmlUl errors_.
Specifically, the audit said "&bout 9% of the meters could not be read due to broken or malfunctioning
equipment .
Two years later, another audit concluded that a "high number of accounts" ~ not ~IIY "actual
meter readings" because of"meter...., errors. equiprMnt failures or human errors."
CNN reviewed hundreds of complainls from Atlanta residents as well as city e-maiIs obtained through i
public records request.
On August 26, 2010, Mitch Elliott, a sales executive of Neptune Technologies, which manufactured tile
meters, wrote to a city olIiclal: "It has been an industry expel iellce that typically when a uliIiI:y does an
AMR (automatic meter reading) meter changeout and also switches soIl.ware billing companies that
generally high bill complaints are either due to new meler accuracy andIor a billing multiplier error."
Elliott would not comment, referring CNN to city olIiciaIs.
Peter Aman, the city of Atlanta's chief operating officer, said in an interview that he realized at that time
the situation was serious. He's been on the job since January 2010. Last September, he replaced
senior management in the Atlanta Dept. ofW4Io1bo'Shed Management.
He said the city has sampled about 9,000 of the 132,954Iesidentia1 meters and made a major
discovery: About 1 % of the meters' registers, which show how much water is being used, and the
meter base underneath do not properly fit That mismatch could result in a doubing of the water bill,
Aman said.
''These two componen1B don' match and guess what? They're labeled. This one says three-quarter
(inch) on it and this one has a "1" rmch) on it. Now, it's small print but it's big enough to see," Aman
said.
That would explain a billing multiplier error, which leads to higher bills, he said.
He added that the problem was first '1de. dilied in the audit back in (2007) and [the city] put in place, or
were supposed to put in place, a whole 5)...... of chedcs and balances as they Went through the rest
of the system upgrade, and clearly they failed because we're still finding these mismatches out there."
Experts: U.S. water infraslructure in trouble
Operators of Lenox Square Mall and Phipps Plaza, two large shopping malls, complained about water
billings "nearfy $300,000 over last year for 1I1is same period of lime," according to another e-mail.
''There appears to be serious errors in the water billings that are a.....g huge hardships for both
centers," wrote Michael F. ROIII61c..d, regional vice prQ !i~_d. of Mid AIIantic M8JI ofGeolyi&. "We neec
1I1e city's full attention to conect the problem."
The city responded by changing the meiers' ~_ Ro....4t.oc.d did not reIum caDs to check whether
http://www.sott.netIarticles1showI225327-Skyroc\reting-water-bills-myslify-anger_resid~ 312112011
(J.~. ElliOTT/PUBLIC PETITION: Attachment 4.\
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the bills had gone back to normal, but there are no follow-up compIaInlS in the city 4/12/2011 Item 6.A.
CNN.
Asked about problems with the 18St<< the meIers. AmarI said. "The majority of the people who
complain about high waIer bills '-lIOIIl8 issue that is not ..-o..i8t8d with the meblr. Many. many of
them have either leaks, or In.::rB ;; B r i in usage throUgh irrigation or pool fiUlng that they didn't fully
understand the impact of, but that's not to hill.,. the fact that we do have some ca.- of melenI tha
aren't functioning properly. And we're addI : I ing those on a CEe-by-case basis and giving people
their money back. To me. the story here is there has been a compJele.Joss of trust belween the city am
its citizens and its customers."
"
The city has not found issues with meJer I1&lUfacturer NepJune Technologies Inc. or Systems and
Software Inc. which il...talJed the biIIlng sollwaIe, Aman said. ExecutiVeS at both coblp8rlies declined
interview requests. Two other co..b....h.Rs that installed meters at commerciallo<..!llions did not return
calls.
'We have not found a smoking gun. if you wiB, in l8rms of a system problem, " Aman told CNN.
However. he said the company that installed the residential meIers should be held accountable.
,KHAFRA, an Atlanta-based finn, joined a PennsyJvania company to cany out the $40.3 million
contract.
After months of calls. KHAFRA President Valentino Ba1es agreed to an interview, but only after CNN
had spoken to Aman.
"When we ended the contract in Dec:shlbel of 2009, we had a 9O-day window 10 come in and address
any concerns. No concerns __ brought to us. So as oftDday silting here with you, it is our
understanding that the meters are furK:tioning properly as they were supposed to when we installed
them," Bates said.
He said the company had ;'je..lirled 968 meIers that had the mismatching problem, and fixed aU of
them by last March. The project, he said, was "vefy sue<: 5 Li fur and he added that he had not been
informed about additional meter issues.
Asked if his company would repair any other meters the city said were not correctly installed, Bates to"
CNN, "If it is our problem, we wiB do that"
Meanwhile, Atlanta residents continue 10 complain to the city, which received more than 22,000 calls tc
its Department of Watershed Management in January. And last year alone, there were a totaJ of 1229"
water bill disputes, according to the city. '
"Clearly, people are upset and one of the things that we said to people is that we' hear you and that WE
do believe we have problems in the water meter and billing system, " Aman said.
That doesn't convince residents like VIftJda Cobb, who is astounded at a water bill that now totals
$10,071.
Her bill spiked to more than $1,200 in November, then skyrocketed to $6,879 in December.
"I am furious, I am upset, I'm confused," Cobb said. "I can't get an answer from the city because they
won't admit there is a problem."
A city official reviewed Cobb's bills, and said the unusualIy high usage for the two months would
normally mean there was some kind of JeaJc, pc 5 BiI!ly with the irrigation system. The city inslalled a
http://www.sott.net/articleslshowI225327-Skyroc:keting-WlIIr:t:-biIIs-mystifY-anger-reside:nts 3fl.lfl.OII
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Skyrocketing water bills mystify, anger residents - Society's Child - Sottnet
P82e40f4
4/12/2011 Item 6.A.
dat~~Illl\if'I~~_ks usage during each day.
Cable News Network
Her latest bill is down to just $34.
Ironically, Cobb knows something about water issues. She's an attorney for the Environmental
Protection Aaencv.
"As I person, I know something's wrong here," Cobb said. "As an attorney, what can I do about it? But,
I don't think it takes a law degree to say $7,000 for a month's use of water by one person in a small
home is just crazy without a leak."
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11.0. FLlIOTT/PlJRlIC PFTITION: Att"rhmpnt 4.\
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