City of El Paso Water and Sewer Committee met March 16.
Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:
A meeting of the El Paso Water/Sewer was held March 16th at 10:00 am.
Committee members present were Sarah Steffen, Alex Brucker and Mary Ellen Kilpatrick.
Others attending were Director of Public Service Jack Hickok, Administrative Assistant Sandee Kessinger and Rene' Martinez from Heartland Properties.
The Committee discussed two requests for relief on Sewer portions of bills from Heartland Properties. The first issue discussed was a high bill at the trailer court at 397 South Fayette. The trailers were on a common meter and had a leak that was very difficult to find. The owners stated that they tried to find the leak, requested help from the City and were still unable to find the leak. They changed toilets in five trailers and tightened any fittings that might look loose. After the leak continued, they bought individual meters to install at each trailer. When installing one of these meters, a leak was found underground and repaired. After that, the leak was stopped, and water usage returned to normal. After reviewing the past water bills, the committee recommended that the Sewer portion of the bill be reduced by $2000.00 and the amount be refunded to Heartland Properties.
The second request was from the address of 177 South Central. While doing work on this property, the water was off in the house. At that time water was noticed coming out of the ground outside in the front yard. Upon investigation it was found that there was an old abandoned meter in the line to the house. The abandoned meter was in the line after a newer meter in the pit. The fitting to the abandoned meter was rusted in half and was leaking. The owners removed the old meter and installed a short pipe to reconnect the lines. The owners believe the City should have removed the old meter and spliced it when the newer meter was installed several years ago. After discussion the Committee recommends that a refund of a portion of the sewer part of the bill should be approved That amount was set at $185.00 to Heartland Properties.
The third request was from the owners of a rental property at 378 West Clay Street. The renter contacted them that the furnace quit working. Upon investigation by a repair service it was found that the water pipe was broken. The repair service made the repair immediately. The request is for relief on the sewer portion of the bill. After discussion, the Committee recommends that the residents account be credited $120.00.
The next item on the Agenda was a request from Cendra McCabe for payment of bills due to a sewage backup in the house at 503 Abby Road. On three occasions the sewer has backed up in her house due to plugging at a Tee at the main line. After review by GA Rich with a camera, and previous excavations by GA Rich it was found that the lateral line from the house to the main is connected with a straight Tee instead of a Sanitary Tee or a Y fitting. This plus the limited amount of flow due to only one other residence on the line results in a pile up and plug at the main sewer. The excavation, camera view, cleaning and home repairs total 7339.02. The Committee recommends paying these bills. In addition to help prevent further instances of this type, the city will replace the Tee fitting with a Y fitting where the lateral line meets the main line.
No billing or policy issues were discussed, and the meeting adjourned at 12:15 pm.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Jack Hickok, Director of Public Service.
http://www.elpasoil.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_03162018-58
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