Mayor Patrick Rushing (left) presents Sunset Elementary student Rebekah Wohali with the Arbor Day Poster Contest award. Wohali was one of 120 students from five classes who entered the contest.
Residents of Airway Heights who have a high water bill due to an unexpected leak can go to the city to address their concerns.
At the May 19 legislative meeting, the City Council approved an ordinance that creates a Water Leak Mitigation Program for the city.
The program was created to help residents who receive a high water bill due to a leak that was found on their property, but outside of their residence.
In order for the city to accept their mitigation request, residents must detect and fix the leak within 60 days. A public works representative must also inspect the leak and determine that it was fixed.
A utility clerk will process mitigated amounts up to $500. Cases where the amount is from $500-$2,000 would go to the Water Leak Mitigation Committee. The committee will not consider amounts over $2,000 and property owners will have to request a utility dispute.
The mitigated amount for cases would be based on the length of time a resident has lived in the city. For someone who has lived in Airway Heights for over a year, the committee would use the previous year's period of billing as the mitigated amount.
A resident who has lived in the city for less than a year would have the average from the previous three months billing used. If citizens have lived in the city for less than three months, the committee would use the base fee plus 1,000 gallons for each person in the household.
According to the ordinance, the program will cover residential and commercial properties.
Mayor Patrick Rushing said the program provides a need for the city.
"We've had those leaks in the past that went undetected," Rushing said. "We're going to be offering a service to our residents for something that is no fault of their own."
Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].
Reader Comments(0)