Yachats council forgives $11,000 of $19,000 utility bill for low-income apartment developer after massive water leak in February

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com

The Yachats City Council has forgiven $11,000 of a $19,000 water and sewer bill for the owners of Fisterra Gardens Townhomes because of a massive water leak from a waterline break in late February.

The council granted Layne Morrill, general partner in the low-income apartment complex, relief from a $11,000 sewer bill because the water leak did not run into the city’s wastewater system. But it said Morrill needed to pay an $8,000 water charge – 16 times higher than the complex’s average water bill of $500.

The public hearing and council vote during an online meeting Thursday was a continuation of a March appeal of the bill.

But it also led to questions why the city is not working quicker on installing water meters and computer systems that can be read remotely and constantly, and a decision by the council to clean up confusing language in the city’s administrative rules regarding water leaks.

The city notified the apartments’ management company of the leak on Feb. 21, but because of a miscommunication Morrill didn’t locate the leak until Feb. 27 and had it fixed the next day.

The city’s water and sewer bill was $19,454 for February and $3,480 for March, because nine days of the February leak appeared on next month’s bill.

Morrill told the council that city rules allow for a charge to be forgiven if water from a leak doesn’t flow into the sewer system. The council agreed with forgiving that part of the bill — $11,000 – but not for the use of the unusual amount of water.

During the hearing, Morrill and council members agreed that language in the administrative rules on water leaks was too confusing and oftentimes contradictory and needed to be cleaned up. It asked the city’s Public Works & Streets Commission to begin that process.

But Yachats Brewing + Farmstore owner Nathan Bernard also asked the council why the city was not being more aggressive in installing water meters that use radio signals and computer systems that can constantly monitor use. Bernard had a similar, but smaller, leak last year that caused a lot of back-and-forth with the city but which ultimately resulted in some relief of his bill.

Many cities – most with the help of federal grants — have installed the radio meters, but the computer system that operates it is expensive.

Rick McClung, who oversees Yachats’ water plant, estimated it would cost $250,000 to do a citywide program with $100,000 of that would be the computer system. But he said as it replaces or installs meters around the city, public works is installing radio meters so they could eventually be hooked up to a new system.

McClung said the idea will likely be outlined in a water master plan that set to begin this year, but eventually a project of that size should go through the city’s Finance Committee and budget process for capital improvement projects.

In other business the council:

• Held a long discussion over whether to design and purchase Yachats-themed face masks to give to merchants to sell or give to customers. It eventually decided that it might be better to coordinate branding messages and marketing ideas with James Kerti, the city’s new visitor center operator.
• Voted 3-2 to extend the city’s emergency order and powers until Sept. 4 to match the recently extended emergency order by Gov. Kate Brown. It was due to expire Monday, July 6. Councilors Leslie Vaaler and Mary Ellen O’Shaughnessey voted no.
• Heard that a new planning director to be shared with the cities of Waldport and Toledo should be hired by mid-July. Planner Dave Mattison’s contract with the city expired July 1. Justin Peterson from the Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments has been working part-time for Yachats since mid-2019 and is filling in until a new planner is on board.