HomeMy WebLinkAboutA001 - Request from Willow Creed Estates Homeowners for relief from excessive bills s
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WULow Grebz estates 1-t-oymow"rs ASSOCI.atLow
May 29, 2009
Mr. Michael Wheelock
Utility Account Supervisor
City of Ames
515 Clark Avenue
Ames, IA 50010
Dear Mr. Wheelock:
Thank you for the time you spent with Sandy and myself a few weeks ago to discuss the means
of appealing the excessive water and sewer bills we encountered for the service periods
12/21/2008 through 4/14/2009.
As of September 21, 2008, we had a complete change in board members for the Willow Creek
Homeowners Association. At our January 10, 2009 board meeting, I made the recommendation
that bills to be paid for the association be approved at each meeting. Prior to this our manager,
Kevon Jones, had been paying the bills as they came in. Our payment for the City of Ames
utilities is automatically paid around the 10t`of each month and prior to our March 8 board
meeting,Kevon handled the bill payments for us until he resigned from managing our three
buildings at the end of February 2009. Upon reviewing the bills at our March board meeting, we
were astounded at the large utility bill for building B compared to buildings C and D. Being we
didn't have any prior month's bills to compare it to, another board member, Sandy Sandfort, said
she would call the utility department to check into it. It was at that time that we were first made
aware of the possibility of a break in a water pipe or a toilet running constantly in building B.
She then called our maintenance man and told him of the urgency to check out the situation that
same day. According to your records, Kevon was listed as a contact on your records and had
been notified but to his recollection he doesn't recall being notified and has called your office
and discussed this matter with a staff member. Needless to say, if he was notified the message
was never passed on to our maintenance man or any of the board members.
Scott, our maintenance man, was able to pinpoint the problem the day we were made aware of it
and correct it. His statement is included as you requested. We have also changed the contact
information with the City of Ames should you need to contact us in the future.
The broken pipe was in the crawl space of unit 902. The crawl space has a dirt floor so the water
was not going into the sewer but rather into the ground. As you pointed out, Michael, the
electric portion of the bill for building B for the same service periods is also way up which
substantiates the fact that the sump pump ran constantly to take care of the excess water due to
the break in the pipe. We spoke with the homeowner just the other day and he stated he was
unaware of the water leak or the sump pump running during that time though he is out of town
on business quite often.
s '
May 29, 2009
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Therefore, we would like to proceed at this time with appealing the sewer portion of the bills for
the service periods listed above and if at all possible any portion of the water bills for the same
periods. If this requires us to address the matter with the City Council,just let us know the time
and date of the meeting.
Thank you, Michael, for your help in this matter. As Sandy will be out of town during the month
of June, please contact me with any additional information. I can be reached at 319-331-0351 or
2097 Timber Lane, Coralville, IA 52241.
Since ly,
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Enclosure
cherdL Rogers (5L5) 292-5-294 FrayLk 7>001u.sO (515) 292-2346
sawdd Bawd fort (515) 292-0090 Joan. MarOLURrdt (319) 354-4639