1984-08-01 Regular Meeting (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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I • • Minutes, Regular Meeting, La Porte City Council August 1, 1984, Page 3 Councilperson Matuszak stated that he thinks we owe it to our constituents to find a solution to this, although he feels there is no easy solution. He thinks what we are seeing here is a direct result of the drought. It irritates a lot of people to water the lawn and have to pay the 70 percent in the summer. This is a real problem, and it is incumbent upon Council to look at this and see if'we can't take some kind of baseline approach. Take the winter rates, for instance, and average them. We are now computerized, and it should not be difficult to get the histories. 6. Mrs. Mary Hanks spoke to Council regarding high water bills in the Hunter's Trace area. She stated that people in her area had asked for someone~to come out and check their meters, but had no success in getting anyone there. She asked Council for help in this regard, and was assured that the~matte~r would be looked into. Councilperson Skelton inquired of Mrs. Hanks if her ne'ighbor's $243 water bill included water, garbage and sewer, and if her • $91 water bill included everything. Mrs. Hanks answered in th.e affirmative. Mr. Skelton commented that, based on that, her neighbor was using about 77,000 gallons of water a month, and Mrs. Hanks was using about 25,000 a month. Councilperson Westergren commented that she understood a tax was included in the mortgage payment in the~area in question that was used to pay off bond indebtedness for the utility district, in addition to the water rates. That is now being paid in the water rates, so if you added that to the water rate you pay each month, it would increase considerably. She agreed that the water bills seemed high. She gave sederal suggestions as to how the meters could be checked for accuracy. Mr. Owen said it would be no problem to send someone out :to check the meters in that area, and it would be done. Councilperson Graves asked if the residents would be~charged~ if no meter malfunctions were found. He did not .feel that a charge should be made since these meters were installed by someone other than the City and we aren't sure~how they work. Mr. Owen said the charge is by ordinance, but that Council could waive that particular ordinance~at their discretion. Mr. Matuszak asked if there could be a check done~on the meters • in the areas we have recently picked up by annexation.