Property Owners Required To Pay Unpaid Sewer Bills
Posted
Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
The owners of two properties outside city limits will be required to pay unpaid and backbilled sewer bills. The bills are for services that were provided, but not charged to the homeowners by Warsaw as the city did not know the homes were occupied at the time. Larry Hyden, assistant utility manager for the Warsaw wastewater department, spoke about the issues during Friday’s Board of Public Works and Safety meeting. On Aug 16, the wastewater payment office discovered that the building and planning department had issued a temporary occupancy for 340 Nuthatch Drive on April 23, 2012. The wastewater office was not informed of this and therefore had not started billing the owners for their sewage service. The unbilled amount is $521.60 that the homeowner at 340 Nuthatch Drive will be required to pay. The second home that had a sewage payment issue is at 442 N. Lake Placid Drive. On Aug, 27, 2013, Wastewater employees drove to the Shadow Lakes development and found out that construction at the Lake Placid Drive home had been completed and the home was being lived in. The wastewater department does not know how long the home had been occupied, but the sewer inspection was done Dec. 18, 2012. The homeowners will need to inform the city how long the homes have been occupied to determine the sewage bill amount needed to be paid. The residents will have the opportunity to come before the Board of Works to explain the dates of occupancy for the homes. The wastewater department started billing for sewage Aug. 29, 2013, but do not know how long the residents have benefited from the service. The Lake Placid Drive homeowner will be backbilled from Dec. 18, 2012. Board member Charlie Smith said he felt since the services were used that the homeowner should be required to pay for them. Board member Jeff Grose agreed that homeowners will be required to pay for the sewer services. Grose said he would like to protect the residents, but believes they should pay their bill and would like to know when they first started to occupy the homes to be billed accordingly.
