St. Clair Shores

City sheds light on water meter procedures

By Kristyne E. Demske
C & G Staff Writer

St. Clair Shores will clarify how it notifies residents of mismatched or unreadable water meters and will continue replacing malfunctioning meters, for now.

City Council approved procedures used by the Department of Public Works to notify residents of a faded or unreadable outside reading device (ORD) that include first leaving a colored door hanger on the residence indicating that the bill could not be read and that an estimate will be sent instead, and asking the resident to call for an appointment to change the meter. The resident will be sent a first notice letter stating they were unable to read the meter and letting the resident know that if they do not respond and rectify the problem, they will be sent a 100-unit estimate ($783) bill.

If residents do not take action in the following 90 days, the second time the meter cannot be read, the door hanger will be left and another letter will be sent stating that the resident’s bill has been estimated at 100 units, or $783, “to lessen the likelihood of an even larger mismatch adjustment in the future.” Residents failing to respond to that letter and estimate will have their water shut off.

“The purpose of that estimate is not to punish anyone or try to make money,” said Assistant City Manager Mike Smith. Instead, he said, it’s designed to try to lessen the difference between what the city has been billing the resident and what the actual bill is.

The city also set the policy for low water consumption, which they define as a residence that uses one unit or less of water in one quarter. That is a change from the previous policy of defining low usage as three units or less, because the city found some residents truly do not use that much water.

The first time a low reading is noticed, the city will estimate the bill based upon the ORD reading and send a letter to the resident asking them to check that both the exterior and interior water meters match and to call the city to discuss the best course of action.

The letter indicates that, “failure to quickly address a mismatch between these two devices may result in an extremely high water bill in the future.”

The second time a low read is taken, another letter will be sent asking the resident to contact the city, along with a 100-unit, or $783, estimate. The third notice will include a letter, another 100-unit estimate and the imminent shut off of water at the address.

Councilman Chris Vitale also suggested that the department add a photograph of a properly functioning meter on the letters to the customers with that problem to further illustrate the issue.

The motion to make the changes was approved with a 5-1 vote, with Councilwoman Candice Rusie voting against the motion and Vitale abstaining from the vote because he did not want to set a precedent of voting on administrative policy.

Council members also considered a request from the department to increase the blanket purchase order for new water meters by $150,000, but Councilman Pete Rubino said he was not comfortable continuing to replace meters when questions he asked at a December study session about the matter were still unanswered.

“How can I vote to keep spending hundreds of thousands of dollars without the proof that there’s the savings here,” he said. “Where is the benefit? That’s what I asked, show me what the benefit is to continue doing this.”

DPW Director Bryan Babcock said they could get City Council the answers, he hoped, by the March 5 City Council meeting. Nevertheless, he said, they needed some money to continue replacing meters, including a large condominium complex project.

“I think I would not want to stop in light of how good the weather’s been,” said Councilman Ron Frederick. “It’d be a shame not to take advantage of that.”

Rubino made a motion, which passed unanimously, to approve another $50,000 for the department to continue replacing meters until the first council meeting in March.
 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Kristyne E. Demske at kdemske@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1041.