By Stephen Tait
Staff Writer
May 15, 2008 03:56 am NEWBURYPORT — In an often-heated meeting that led to one board member submitting his resignation, water commisioners last night affirmed a decision to require residents to pay most of the massive water bills that have been issued to hundreds of ratepayers. Ratepayers whose higher-than-usual water bills were due to a pattern of low estimates of water usage will pay charges prorated according to the water rates at the time of use, the Water and Sewer commissions decided. For those whose high bills stemmed from under-recording due to faulty remote-reading equipment installed by the city, totals will be reduced by one-third, then prorated. The commissions also approved a payment plan based on the size of the bills. Many were in the $3,000 to $8,000 range, and one topped out at $18,000. A typical half-year bill is $400. Larry Kelley, chairman of the Water Commission, said the new policy should go a long way toward lowering the massive bills. He said with prorated bills, the rate for water usage could get as low as $1.30 or so per 100 cubic feet. The rate now is $4.24 per 100 cubic feet. That difference, he said, should lower the bills for many residents. "I think it will knock off a majority (of the cost for some)," he said. "I don't know how it will be received, but it has been decided." Mayor John Moak said he agreed, adding that it is a fair solution for everyone, including those who paid their bills along the way. "I believe they've done some very thorough analysis of this," the mayor said. Kelley submitted his resignation to Moak after some heated exchanges with the public during the meeting, but Moak did not accept it and Kelley later said it was "on hold." The decision is a change from a vote last month by the Water Commission, when it recommended a plan that would have essentially forgiven the massive water bills. The Sewer Commission did not agree with that recommendation. Kelley said the word forgive "doesn't exist" and that "these are legitimate bills for water used." The new policy was announced during a meeting last night at City Hall, although the Water and Sewer commissions said they quietly approved the policy at a meeting last week. Last night's meeting was not without controversy. In a back-and-forth with a board member over the technicalities in the new policy, a resident told the board she did not have faith in the readings the city made on the meters. It was a comment that seemed to put Kelley, the chairman of the Water Commission, over the edge after an already heated meeting in which he had referred to Robert's Rules of Order, a guide to meeting procedures, and asked for people to speak one at a time. During the exchange with the resident, Kelley told the woman to be quiet and that there needed to be order. When another woman said the other had the right to say what she wanted to say, Kelley yelled for the residents — many of whom were calling out things — to be quiet. Then a man yelled "idiot." "I will clear this room," Kelley yelled. "No you won't," another man answered back. "It's a public meeting." After more yelling, a woman said to Kelley: "Who the hell do you think you are?" Kelley responded: "Someone who is stupid enough to volunteer for this board." Finally, Kelley said he was quitting. "I'm out of here," he said. Kelley slid a piece of paper to Moak, who took a moment to read it. Kelley started to pack up his black briefcase with files. But he remained seated. When he did make another inaudible statement and made a motion to leave, Moak held up his hand and said "please." Kelley stayed. After the meeting, Moak confirmed the letter — which was already typed and prepared before the meeting — was a resignation letter. The mayor said the resignation is not official until "I accept it." After the meeting, Kelley also confirmed the letter was his resignation, although he said for now it is "on hold." "I've gone through hell to put this ... thing together," he said of the new policy. "It's been tough." If he does resign, he won't be the first since the water bill debacle began. Moak said after the meeting last night that Bill Smith, a water commissioner and acting chairman during the meeting in which the bills were recommended for an almost complete abatement, also had resigned. Moak said Smith did not state a reason. Smith was reappointed on April 28, but Moak said he did not show up to the swearing-in ceremony and gave his resignation. Smith could not be reached for comment. Commissioners and O'Regan said it is unclear how much revenue the city will lose under the plan. O'Regan said that number will only be known after every single bill is figured out. Though the commissioners approved the policy, Kelley claimed it was only "98 percent" official and refused to give a release the city's resolution, saying only that it was "technical." Moak said he disagreed, adding once the commissions voted last week for the policy that it was official. "I fully accepted that their policy has been passed and the policies are set," he said. Kelley read through the policy at the beginning of the meeting. At the end of the meeting, he and Moak both said they were very technical in nature, involving specific terminology, mathematic formulas and other engineer-like language. "If I were trying to understand that as a layperson, I'd have a very hard time understanding it," Moak said. The commission did say it plans to post the policy online and also send out an explanation of the bills and the new policy in the reconciled bills — which will start being sent out in June.
Resolving water bills Under the Water and Sewer Commission's complex policy to resolve huge bills given out to hundreds of residents due to inaccurate estimates, the new charges will be prorated. For instance, if a bill goes back five years, the usage will be averaged over that period of time. Each year will have an equal amount of usage, and the rate for that usage will be based on the that year's rate. For the massive water bills based on faulty remote readers, the bill will be reduced by one-third and then prorated. The commissions also voted to set up a payment plan. For those with bills from $0 to $1,000, residents will have one year to pay. For those more than $2,000, residents will have two years to pay. That will continues for longer, dependent on the size of the bill. A resident with an $8,000 bill, for instance, will have eight years to pay. Reconciled bills must be paid in addition to regular bills.
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