BWD Service Committee

Thursday - May 13: The Buckeye Water District Service Committee met last Thursday at the Water Treatment Plant. Present at the meeting was Committee Chairman Cal Carney and Committee Member Dave Lloyd. Also in attendance was District Manager Al DeAngelis, Trustees Bob Wines, Jack Call & Gene McGaffick and Fiscal Officer Sara Crouch.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss language in the customer service policy manual. The first subject was the R900 radio transmitting meters used in some areas of the district. These meters transmit a radio signal that can be read by a receivers in the reader's vehicle that automatically records water usage. Two of them have recently been destroyed by running over them with lawn mowers. The meters sit in the ground in the middle of an 18" diameter plate. It costs $100 each to replace. It was noted that the language in the policy that once installed they are the customer's responsibility to replace if destroyed through negligence is vague. The language needs to be changed to be more precise to avoid misinterpreting.

The second subject was the policy for prohibiting customers paying bills by check if there are three checks returned for insufficient funds. Currently there is no language setting a time limit for this prohibition. The Committee agreed to recommend to the Board that after three years the ban will be lifted. If one more NSF check is received after that the ban would be forever.

The third item discussed was duplexes with one curb box and two meters - one for each side. In many cases there are duplexes with one side empty while the other is occupied. In many instances there are no shut offs on the lines. As a courtesy, in the past, the Water District has installed a plug in the empty side's waterline so the landlord can avoid having to pay the monthly minimum charge of $29.40. The District wants to get away from that to avoid any claims of damage to the owner's property. The Committee wants to recommend that the policy to require a lockable shut off be installed for each side be reiterated or the owner will be responsible for the monthly minimum charge. There will be no more plugging of the lines. However, that recommendation will be referred to the District's Legal Advisor for his opinion before it is passed on to the full Board.

The regular Board of Trustees Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 20, at 9 A.M. at Wellsville Village Hall.

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