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OPEN DELEGATION BY STEVE BALMER CONCERNING THE WAIVING OF WATER BILLING FEES - CHELTENHAM DRIVE
Mr. Steve Balmer provided an Open Delegation requesting the waiving of water billing fees for a property located on Cheltenham Drive.
Mr. Balmer discussed the background information and provided details explaining the following timelines that he felt lead to the water bill totaling over $7,300:
• January, 2018 City staff attended his residence and spoke to his neighbor concerning a possible issue with the water meter due to no usage of water;
• February, 2018 Mr. Balmer was notified by his neighbour that the basement of his residence had flooded;
• March, 2018 City staff attended the residence to investigate a possible issue with the water meter due to a higher than normal usage of water resulting from an alert from the City’s monitoring system; and
• April, 2018 he received a letter from the City by mail informing him of the water bill and amount owing.
Mr. Balmer expressed his concerns associated with the water billing fees owing on his property and that he felt that City staff should have attended once the abnormal water consumption had been noticed the City’s monitoring systems. Mr. Balmer explained his rationale associated with the abnormal water usage and why he felt the bursting pipe had gone undetected until the water began to back up in the basement.
Mr. Balmer expressed that he felt that this matter should be given consideration and the water charges reversed in light of these circumstances. He noted that he believed there should be better stop measures in place to avoid such unfortunate issues with water consumption.
Members of the Committee asked a number of questions of Mr. Balmer and City staff and received responses.