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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Works Committee Minutes 02.07.2005DRAFT Members present: Others present: MINUTES PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 7, 2005 5:00 PM COUNCIL CHAMBERS Mark Mace John Oakes Smokey Staudinger Marvin Carter Cheryll Lund Jeanette Koch Steve Klotz David Yeager Motion by Marvin Carter, second by Smokey Staudinger, to approve the minutes of the December 13, 2004. Motion carried 4-0. Public Input None. Recycling Program - Steve Klotz Charlie White from Concrete R Us had requested to bring information to the committee on a proposed recycling program but he did not attend the meeting. Steve Klotz, Public Works Director spoke regarding the types of recycling that the city has already instigated. The city has a bum pile for all objects that can be burned. Having the burn pile reduces the amount of times the city has to haul containers to the Billings landfill by around 20%. The current metal recycling program is in the process of being changed. Currently all metal has been hauled into Pacific Recycling where it is weighed and a check is written out to the city. In the future a recycler will come take the metal haul it away and leave a check. The city will no longer have to haul it to Billings. There is a cardboard recycling program, which should reduce waste by around 20%. We lease the machine from Pacific Recycling in exchange for the recycling revenues. The city also has an oil-recycling program that is done at no cost to both city and county residents. The materials to make the tank were donated by Cenex and Mayor Olson constructed the tank. A cement pad has been built to place the tank at the landfill. A site has been constructed for the Fire Department to place smoke boxes for training. They have plans to put in a water tank. The city also has plans to put in a compost pile that residents can bring leaves and grass clippings to. The city needs to be able to add water to the pile for it to become compost, and they hope to tap into the water tank owned by the Fire Department. The city does not take any toxic waste: People that come up to the container site are instructed to contact the City of Billings in regards to getting rid of toxic waste. Dave Yeager - 909 Casa Linda - Sewer Adiustment Request Dave Yeager stated that his concerns are: 1) the way he was treated by the city water department; 2) why the numbers on the inside water meter and outside remote aren't the same; 3) the water personnel should be required to make the numbers the same when they change out meters; 4) that the meter reader stated that they don't read the meters incorrectly; 5) that his summer sewer average will increase enormously if they use the read from November; 6) didn't get a satisfactory answer from the Water Office. He went on to state that he doesn't mind paying for the water because it did go through the meter, but he is concerned about it taking his sewer average up for next summer. Mark Mace asked Jeanette Koch, Water Office Clerk, if they typically would make an adjustment on a sewer average in a case like this? Jeanette stated that in the past they have only done so if the city is aware that the water went on the ground. She went on to say that when Dave first came into the water office he was concerned that his meter had been under-read in September. She explained that if they have an under-read or an over-read it is going to show up the next month. He had a reading of 3700 in October and 4500 in November. When you read the 4500 obviously 3700 was just a little bit less so it couldn't of been under or over read. Marvin Carter pointed out that the September read was 1700. Jeanette said that when you have a bad read it's going to show up the next month, not 2 months later. She also pointed out that if September was under read than October read 3700. So that does not indicate there was any problem. leanette stated that she wanted to clear something up about the different numbers showing on the meters and meter remote. When you set a remote it starts at 0. When you set the meter it starts at 0. Unless the house is a new house the meter and meter remote are not set at the same time. There has never been a policy set to require the remote numbers be set to zero when a meter is changed. This problem has never come up. Mark Mace stated that regardless the meter shows usage. The meter and remote are wired together, they both advance the same. Dave Yeager said that he asked for a print out of usage but he could never get it from the water office. He doesn't understand what the big deal is for the numbers to be put the same. The print out was provided to Mr. Yeager and also to each committee member (see attached). Marvin Carter questioned how hard it is to reset the numbers to 07 Jeanette stated that it was just a matter of turning the numbers over until they all read 0. Steve Klotz, Public Works Director, stated that he didn't think it was a difficult task to roll the numbers to zero. He thinks what they typically do is put the outside remote at zero and write down what the inside meter started at. If the inside meter starts at 5000 and the outside meter reads 5, then you would know that the amount they used was 5. Steve went on to state that the reason they say the meters don't read more is if the little water wheel inside goes bad it slows down and reads less. Smokey Staudinger wondered if they needed a motion to change the policy to putting both meter and meter remote to the same numbers? He feels it needs to be changed. Jeanette requested that the board get some advice from the manufacturer of the remotes before deciding anything. We need to make sure it is feasible to do. lohn Oakes stated that he could not do anything for Mr. Yeager because he broke the seal on the meter. David Yeager stated he was in a panic because he got a major bill, and a friend of his that worked for a water department (not city's) he took the head off of the meter and put an instrument on it that showed it wasn't leaking. This all happened on a 4 day weekend when he was getting ready to leave for Thanksgiving. Monday morning he was on the phone to the city water office and told them he had broken the seal. John Oakes stated that because the seal was broken that he, as a committee member, can do anything for Mr. Yeager. Mark Mace suggested that the committee wait and see what the usage is from December and January. Dave Yeager stated that his bill has been $64.00. He has already paid for the water; he was at the meeting to complain that the water office isn't being run properly. Mark Mace suggested that they get information from Larry McCann, Public Utilities Director, in regards to changing the numbers to zero on the meters and remotes each time a meter or remote is changed. Dave Yeager stated that he talked to Billings and Bozeman water departments and they change the numbers ail the time without any problems. He finds it hard to believe that no one has ever brought this same request to the committee. He also suggested that if there is a question on a reading that someone should look into it. 3 Jeanette stated that there is a re-read list on a monthly basis for any questionable reads. They re-read meters when necessary. She stated that Mr. Yeager's meter reading was double-checked. Mark Mace told Mr. Yeager that the committee would look into it more. Marvin Carter told him to give them several months to look into it. Jeanette asked Marvin Carter to clarify what they were going to look into? Marvin Carter stated that the committee would like to look at the readings from the next 3 months, and when spring comes around Mr. Yeager can see if his sprinkler system did break. Smokey stated that this should make a big difference on his sewer estimate for the summer months. Mr. Yeager stated again that he didn't question whether or not the water went through his line, it did. His concern is that the water office didn't handle it well, and his sewer average would go up. Ieanette clarified to Smokey Staudinger that the sewer charge for the summer is not an estimate; it's based on the sewer average. She also wrote to Mr. Yeager on December 8, 2004 and told him that they ouldn t use that reading to figure his sewer average for the summer. Mark Mace asked the Secretary to have Larry McCann get information regarding how possible it is to set the water meter and the meter remote to 0. .Steve Klotz stated that the City of Billings does not even have remotes, from what he knows the meters ~n Billings are read through the phone lines. (NOTE: Jeanette called the City of Bozeman on February 9, 2005 and Bozeman's meters are read electronically also, and they have no remote readouts, just meters.) Miscellaneous A question was raised on what has been done with the Park leases? Mark stated that nothing has been done at a Workshop yet. Smokey Staudinger question how water meters can be placed in some of the Riverside Park buildings? How will they keep them from freezing? ' Mark stated that would be addressed for each building and the clubs and organizations will have to deal with it. The meeting was adjourned at 5:42 pm. Respectfully submitted, Cheryll Lund, Secretary 12-9-04 Public Utility Committee Members: Dav/d Yaeger at 909 Casa Linda Circle may be calling to get on the agenda for this committee. His November reading showed 4500 c.f. of usage. He says he has no problem paying the wa~er but he's objecting to the sewage c~harge. He came into the office on November 30`~ and feels that ins September read~g was under read and that it didn't show up until the November reading. His point is that if the water was used in September, he would have been on his sewer average and the amount of water wouldn't have affected his sewer. If a reading is under read or over read, it generally shows on the next month's reading. He had a friend who works for the Heights water dept. take the head off of his meter and check it before he came into the office. Guy Rolison checked the meter and it did not show any leaks on 12-3-04. In reviewing his consumption history, it doesn't appear that the September and October readings could have been mis-read. The only recommendation the utility depmtment feels is justified is to not count the 4500 into his sewer average for next summer. CITY lq2.ZL 115W 1STST. PUB WORKS: 628-4796 WATER_ OFC: 628-743 I COURT: 628-I964 FAX: 628~2241 City Of Laurel P.O. Box 10 La~rel, Montana 59044 12-8-04 David Yaeger 909 Casa Linda Circle Laurel, Mt. 59044 RE: 19745-00 Dear Mr. Yaeger, The City of Laurel Utility Department has reviewed your account and feel that we carmot g/ye a sewer adjustment on your November 10th reading w/thout City Council approval. Enclosed are copies of your usage for the last two years and of your meter book page show/rig the readings for 2004. The Utility DepaP_ment feels confident that if the reading on September l0th was an under-read, it would have reflected on the October l0th reading..It would not have taken until November 10th to 'show a September under-read. We will not use the 4500 usage from the November 10th reading in your 2005 summer sewer average. Therefore, that high month of usage will not affect your sewer charge during next year's irrigation season. The Heights water department employee who took the head off of your water meter broke the seal. That could be subject to a frae by the City of Laurel. It states in our RuJes and Regulations Governing Utility Serv/ces for the City of Laurel: "Any person who considers the wastewater rates, charges, and fees applicable to his/her premises unfair, inequitable, or unreasonable may present his/her complaints to the City Public Works Committee, stating the facts and grounds of complaint. The committee shall advise the Public Works D/rector of any need for invest/gat/on and a report of the investigation shall be made to the City Council." If you would like to come to the next Public Works Committee meeting, please contact Gay Easton at 628-6374 to be put on the agenda. The utility department will submit copies of this correspondence to the committee members. If you have any further questions, feel free to call me at 628-7431#2. Thank you for your time. City of Laurel ~eane~e Koch Utility Billing Clerk City Of Laurel is an EEO Employer Equal Housing Opportunity A~REMM .P,O. Box 10, Laurel, MT 59044 / j/~/ · SERVICE ORDER JNVOfCE ,~[//~' . SF~V,OE DATE L¢;~, .~ S~WCe~Te~ ~e ~eao:e ~ead 2489.40 o. ~d it read 2489.70'. Dave thinks this is bad ~emote and that he couldn't possib] used that much water. Please meet h~ at 8:00 and check the remote/. ~ FO[~ARD 12 ' 2284 : 3 .. FEB AUG OCT dS© Account: Route :Meter: Service Address: Mtr Id - Type - Size: g.~O o YAEGER, DAVID 19745-00 19-7451 909 CASA LNDA CIRCLE 7547632 M Meter Serial #: · Thanks ~a~e thinks that Sept. & Oct, were~-- under-rea~s and that most of. the water used on the November read should have been billed in Sept. We maintain that one month could be an under-read but it would show uB the mext month for sure, it wou%d not take a third reading to correct .it. A friend of his from the Heights water dept. took the head off the AP-Year 11-2004 10-2004 09-2004 08-2004 (Readings in Actual Units) meter and broke the seal. They were testing for leaks. Reading Reading Date 4 Monthly U.~g~j: :' 2469oo11,1o,2oo4 240700 09/1012004 ~q~ 1700:/'"~ ~ '" ~' 239000 08/10/2004 /~,¢ 2700 07-2004 06-2004 05-2004 04-2004 03-2004 02-2004 01-20~ · 12-2003 236300 07/13;2004 :~ ~'~ ¢ 2700 233600 06111/2004 /~ ~ 2900! 230700 05/12/2004 ~; ~ · 700:: 230000 04/13/2004 500 229500 03/10/2004 400 229100 -02/10/2004 300 228800 01/13/2004, 500 228300 12/12/3003 300 OFFICE ~'age 1 BLACK I~IOUNTAIN SOFTWARE UTILITY BILLING SYSTEM CITY OF LAUREL CUSTOMER WATER READINGS 15:10:'18 - 12/08/2004 Customer Name: YAEGER, DAVID Account: 19745-00 Route - Meter: '] 9~7451 Service Address: 909 CASA LNDA CIRCLE Mtr Id - Type - Size: 7547632 M Meter Serial #: (Readings in Actual Units) AP-Year Reading Reading Date From 11-2003 to 11-2004 0.75" Monthly Usage YTD UsageReading Type 11-2004 248900 1t/10/2004 4500 10-2004 244400 10/13/2004 3700 09-2004 240700 09/10/2004 1700~ 08-2004 239000 08/10/2004 2700 07-2004 236300 07/13/2004 2700 06-2004 233600 06/11/2004 2900 05-2004 230700 05/12./2004 700 04-2004 230000 04t13/2004 500 03-2004 229500 03/10/2004 400 02-2004 229100 02/10/2004 300 01-2004 228800 01/13/2004 500 12-2003 228300 12/12/3003 300 11-2003 228000 11/10/2003 500 20600 ACTUAL READING 16100 ACTUAL READING 12400 ACTUAL READING 10700 ACTUAL READING 8000 ACTUAL READING 5300 ACTUAL READING 2400 ACTUAL READING 1700 ACTUAL READING 1200 ACTUAL READING 800 ACTUAL READING 500 ACTUAL READING 15700 ACTUAL READING 15400 ACTUAL READING ~age 1 BLACK MOUNTAIN SOFTWARE UTILITY BILLING SYSTEM CUSTOMER WATER READINGS CITY OF LAUREL 5:10:57 - 12J08/2004 Customer Name: YAEGER, DAVID Account: 19745-00 Route - Meter: 19-7451 Service Address: 909 CASA LNDA CIRCLE Mtr Id - Type - Size: 7547632 M Meter Serial #: (Readings in Actual Units) AP-Year Reading Reading Date From 11-2002 to 11-2003 0.75" Monthly Usage YTD UsageReading Type 11-2003 228000 11/10/2003 500 10-2003 227500 10/10/2003 2300 09-2003 225200 09/10/2003 3400 08-2003 221800 08/12/2003 1800 07-2003 220000 07/11/2003 3500 06-2003 216500 06/1012003 1800 05-2003 214700 05/12/2003 600 04-2003 214100 04/0912003 300 03-2003 213800 03111/2003 300 02-2003 213500 02/11/2003 400 01~2003 213100 01/1012003 500 12-2002 212800 12]10/2002 200 11-2002 212400 11/13/2002 500 15400 ACTUAL READING 14900 ACTUAL READING 12600 ACTUAL READING 9200 ACTUAL READING 7400 ACTUAL READING 3900 ACTUAL READING 21 O0 ACTUAL READING 1500 ACTUAL READING 1200 ACTUAL READING 900 ACTUAL READING 500 ACTUAL READING 131 O0 ACTUAL READING 12900 ACTUAL READING