District News

VOLUNTARY WATER RATIONING IN EFFECT

Due to drought conditions in the area, the board determined at it's June 28, 2011 meeting that voluntary water rationing is necessary for NWHC MUD #28 to ensure an adequate amount of water is available for bathing and drinking. If your street address ends in an even number (0, 2, 4, 6, 8) please limit lawn watering to Sundays and Thursdays. If your street address ends in an odd number (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) please limit lawn watering to Saturdays and Wednesdays. Use of water to wash any motor vehicle is prohibited except on designated watering days between the hours of 8:00pm and 10:00am. Such washing, when allowed, shall be done with a hand held bucket or hose with a shutoff nozzle for quick rinses. Use of water to fill any swimming pools is prohibited except on designated watering days between 8:00pm and 10:00am.

The Board of Directors appreciates your cooperation and perserverance during this Conservation Condition. If conditions should worsen, you will be notified of more stringent restrictions to ensure availability of water in your community.

* Please report all water leaks to Hayes Utility at 281-353-9809.

**MUD taxes and bills cannot be paid at the office on La Mer. Please mail payments to the address on your bill.

Water Bill Late fees, Shut-off notices and Shut–offs

Economic times have been difficult for the last few years. The directors of the district see the effects of the financial pressure on our residents each month when we review the Operations Report and see the number of persons who are late paying their bill, the number who receive cut-off notices, and the number who are actually shut-off.

What we see today is a dramatic increase in all of these actions. It’s no longer just a few careless payers. It’s a good number of people choosing not to pay the bill on time, or not at all for several months running.

The Water Board’s obligation is to run the district efficiently and fairly.

We believe the results of our efficiency can be measured in the reduction of property taxes since 2005( down 50%) and the increase in services such as free garbage collection (reduced from $15.00/month in 2004), free police since 2004 (expense that is now $12.00/month per home), the flag program, and water and sewer service rates that are half the regional average.

Normandy Forest is a small community of only 530 homes. The delay or absence of payment of any number of persons increases the cost of the district and pressures increases in charges for those who pay timely.

We believe our policy of enforcing payment of utility bills is fair and in every instance equivalent with other districts.

A late payment has a 15% late fee attached. A bill not paid for two months results in a shut off notice delivered as a door hanger to the resident advising that water service will be shut off if the bill is not paid by a given date. Failure to pay by that date results in the water being shut off and a fifty dollar fee added to the bill for shut off and an additional fifty dollars added to turn the water back on. An actual shut off also results in an increase in the security deposit for the account. The shut off fees are tied to the actual expense the district incurs to send a man and a truck to shut service off and then return to put it back on.

Recently the district has faced the problem of some residents who have chosen to break the shut off lock on their meter and turn their water back on after service has been terminated for non-payment. This is a serious matter and prosecutable under the law as Theft of Service. The penalty is up to a $2,000.00 fine plus jail time up to 6 months.

Up to now the district has used cut-off fees and increases in deposits to address illegal reinstatement of service. In order to protect the assets of the district, discourage this action, and apply a fairness standard to our policy, the Board will now review each case with a mind to seek criminal prosecution and legal penalties.

We would hate to take legal action against one of our neighbors, but at the same time we are sworn to uphold the greater good of all our taxpayers. Destroying district assets and stealing water is no different than breaking into the district office, vandalizing it and stealing equipment.

You would expect us in such an event to take similar action.