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Council Minutes of 02-02-10 AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION Don Pangrac, 23470 Sharon Drive received his water bill for October, November, and December which prompted him to call the City of Cleveland Water Department and try to get in and get an explanation. No one he spoke with knew what a customer service charge was supposed to cover, what a deduct meter reading fee is supposed to cover and what a billing fee is supposed to cover. He thinks people are paying twice for the same service. He would like to see some effort made to get a group together to try to work out some sort of arrangement with the City of Cleveland. People are paying $18.54 for the first 1,000 cubic feet, and paying $4.82 for a billing fee on top of that every month. That's $23.36 for the first 1,000 cubic feet of water. After that, people are paying $39.65, which is more than double what the base rate is for water. With the increase in the sewage for the sewage plant, is there any way to negotiate a rate or try to meet with the City of Cleveland to get some sort of relief from these rates because many are on fixed incomes and no increases this year. Mayor Kennedy thanked Mr. Pangrac and reminded him to E-mail him regarding this issue. Jerry Barrett, 24125 Lebern Drive did not receive a water bill. His wife called the water department. They said they would send out another one because at that time their street was not on a dedicated mail route. When they still did not receive a bill, his wife called again to avoid a surcharge on the bill. They told her they were having trouble with some of the bills in the City of North Olmsted so they really don't know what is owed. Copfer said she talked to the Assistant Controller there. Copfer said she was assured that they looked through and they did not have a problem in the City of North Olmsted with billing. The same number of bills went out. To really determine this, she won't get the January information until February to know whether she has the same amount of money for a January billing as she did in prior years. Copfer asked if he got the problem resolved with the water department and Mr. Barrett said they did. Copfer said the water department did go on a new computer, and they were having issues with certain reports being run with usage. It makes her a little nervous how they knew how much to bill everyone. Councilman Barker said he also had two residents from Maple Ridge Condominiums with a billing error and, of course, their complaint was they're spending all day on the phone. He suggested for residents to call earlier because he called the water department before 7:30 a.m. and got through. Dennis Lambert, 25057 Carey Lane noted that the Cleveland Water Department has gone to a new system. They've also changed all account numbers because the new system does not handle the old account numbers. For those who pay your bill online, they should change their account number to the new account number. According to the water department, it's going to be a brief changeover time where the old account numbers will work and then they won't work anymore. He pointed out that if you don't pay your water bill, it becomes a lien against your property. Tim Smith, 6053 Sherwood Drive invited the members of Council and all the members of the audience and anyone from the city to the next meeting of the Charter Review Commission on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 7 p.m. in the caucus room in the back. 14