Another Water District Customer Incurs Bill Exceeding $2,000

Another water district customer came before the board of directors at its June 14 meeting, asking for help with an outstanding and unexpected water bill.

El Cajon residents Frank and Shannon Trout, owners of the property at 18036 Dos Picos Road, told the Ramona Municipal Water District governing board that they have been paying an average two-month water bill of $41.44. The house on the property has been vacant for two years. In March, the two-month bill escalated to $2,078.64 for the mid-January to mid-March billing period.

The Trouts said they were contacted in March by an RMWD employee and told that the 11 meters at the end of their driveway serving their property and neighboring properties had been turned off due to a leak affecting one of the neighbor’s houses. The meters were turned off in early March, either by a neighbor or a plumber hired to fix a leak on the property, General Manager Ralph McIntosh said.

“We’re learning a little bit about what might have happened but it’s still a little bit unclear,” Shannon Trout told the board. “All we know is the water is shut off and we have this humungous bill.”

When the district turned the meters back on, an apparent break in the line servicing the Trouts’ house had caused 328,000 gallons of water to register through their meter. The Trouts said there is no evidence about where the excess water went.

“We would assume 300,000 gallons would leave a mark,” Frank Trout said. “There’s nothing there. Nothing is green.”

McIntosh suggested this may have been a case of water theft, since the house is vacant and the water line is visible. A lock has since been installed on the valve at the Trouts’ water meter. The water pipes leading to the house are above ground and show an obvious break. The Trouts said they will have the broken line repaired as soon as possible “so this doesn’t happen again.”

It is district policy that the homeowners are responsible for leaks on their side of the water meter, so the board denied the Trouts’ request to forgive their bill. McIntosh told the couple they could work with the financial office to arrange payments.

The board has heard similar requests recently from other customers who have had high water bills due to leaks in the water pipes. The requests for dismissal of the bills were all denied.

Last month, a customer on Hanson Way received a bill for more than $3,000, and in January, a customer off Highway 67 had a bill of more than $800.

Directors have suggested to McIntosh that staff and legal counsel look into the possibility of providing some leniency for customers with such large, unexplained bills. At this point, customers are always given the option of making payment arrangements.

In other action before the board at its June 14 meeting, board president Brian Wadlington commended five district employees who were instrumental in designing a program regarding safety issues for the district. Jim Anderson, Tiffany Friend, Wes Stalker, Kyle Syverson and Johnny Brean were recently presented with certificates of appreciation and monetary awards by the Joint Powers of Insurance Authority.

The next regular meeting of the RMWD Board of Directors is at 4:30 p.m. June 28 at Ramona Community Center, 424 Aqua Lane.