THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 17, 1995 TAG: 9510170272
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR AND ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
The idea of getting a partial refund for nearly four months of bad water may be tasty to many city residents.
But City Attorney Ronald S. Hallman has warned City Council members that giving customers rebates on their water bills may expose Chesapeake to lawsuits.
The theory is that the rebates could amount to an admission by the city that the water has been bad enough to merit some compensation, which would be used in court by those who suffer health problems or damaged appliances.
Hallman's comments add to the mounting concerns of top city officials, who have warned of the long-term consequences of a rebate.
The council is scheduled to discuss tonight whether to grant the refunds.
Vice Mayor Robert T. Nance said the rebate would work out to about $2.50 a month - or $5 per billing cycle. If it were effective as of Aug. 1, it would mean a $20 adjustment to the next bill.
The water problems began in the middle of the summer. A lack of rainfall caused chloride and sodium levels to increase dramatically in the Northwest River. The city draws water for about 40 percent of its residents from the river; more than 10 percent of Chesapeake residents get a mixture of Northwest water and unsalty reserves. The rest are provided with water from Norfolk or Portsmouth and have no salt problems.
Many residents have turned to buying bottled drinking water. Local shops specializing in spring and distilled water have been tapped hard. Signs posted in Chesapeake restaurants warn patrons that sodas and iced tea taste salty, because they are mixed with city water. Councilman Dalton S. Edge, whose temporary seat is up for election both in November and again in May, made the proposal in September to give rebates to customers who get Northwest River water. It came just weeks after council voted to raise water rates citywide.
Edge, who voted against the rate increase, said he did not think offering rebates would expose the city to lawsuits.
``I'm not an attorney, but I don't see any liability complications at all,'' he said.
Vice Mayor Nance, who supports a rebate, said the principle of paying for adequate services outweighs any legal risk.
``It's not right to charge people for water they can't drink,'' he said.
With daily updates on chloride levels by the city, and repeated warnings of risks to residents on sodium-restricted diets issued by the health department, Nance said he couldn't see how a rebate would provide new legal ammunition.
The vice mayor also dismissed financial concerns about the rebate.
Top city officials, including the city manager and the budget director, have called the idea of a rebate a short-term solution that could have long-term fiscal consequences for the Public Utilities Department.
``It's not going to break the bank,'' Nance said. ``There are still emergency funds that are escrowed and kept in reserve.''
But the city's budget director was cautious.
``If we spend our emergency funds on this, what will we do if we have a real emergency?'' Budget Director Claude A. Wright asked.
The winds and drought that brought the problem to Chesapeake are not controllable, Wright said. What if salty conditions continue next summer, he asked, and the summer after that?
Plans for a major upgrade of the Northwest River Water Treatment Plant designed to filter out salt won't become reality until 1998.
``The premise of a rebate is that if you're a customer and you get an inferior product, you replace it in some way or get a rebate from the owner,'' Wright said. ``That's how it works in private business. But this isn't a business. It's a public utility. The owners and the customers are one and the same - Chesapeake water and sewer users.
``Any rebate that the customers want is money that the owners are going to pay for. So people are going to pay themselves for a rebate.''
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE WATER SODIUM SALT by CNB