City holds 2nd utility town hall meeting

By BRITTANY FHOLER

Cove Leader-Press

The Copperas Cove Utilities Administration and representatives from FATHOM answered questions and explained the new billing system and website at the second town hall meeting held Wednesday evening at the Copperas Cove Civic Center. 

The city’s budget director and assistant to the city manager, Ryan Haverlah, shared information with around 30 residents, on the new meters and discussed inconsistencies in the billing system in 2016. The meeting was also broadcast on the city’s Facebook page using Facebook Live.

The new meters which the city began installing in October 2016 now show the total amount of water that has flowed through the meter as well as the rate of gallons per minute if water were turned on and flowing. The meters also have a flow indicator light and a leak indicator light to tell if water is leaking or flowing from somewhere, Haverlah said. 

Cycles 1-4 will have their bill for March mailed out April 17, 2017 and cycles 5-7 will be on their normal billing cycle. The bill sent out this month will include 60 days of base rates and consumption, but after this month, the billing will go back to normal, Haverlah explained. 

FATHOM went live on April 3. Overall, it was successful but there was a slight delay in assisting customers calling in, Haverlah said. Customers who called the Utilities office and spoke with city staff had a longer delay than those who called the FATHOM call center, who could assist customers more quickly due to being used to the system. 

 “City staff is having to learn the system as we are going through this,” Haverlah said.  

FATHOM Project Manager Marie DeFelice spoke to residents about the U2You Customer Portal and creating an account to pay their water bill online. Customers must use their account number to sign in. They can contact FATHOM Customer Service for the number, go to the office or wait until their next bill arrives. The system did carry over the last 13 months of consumption history and every payment made will be available to be viewed online, DeFelice added. 

Charges customers will see on their bills include a water base charge of $12.83; a water consumption charge of $4.05 per thousand gallons; a wastewater base charge of $12.83; a sewer usage charge of $17.01; a solid waste charge of $19.83; and a storm water charge of $7.00, according to the slideshow. 

Prior to this, the water usage showed the consumption and water base charge added together. 

“This will clearly show to all of our customers when there is a rate change, because with rate changes, it’s either to the base charge or the consumption charge,” Haverlah said. This also “enhances the ability to provide clear information” to residents of Copperas Cove. 

Haverlah answered questions from the audience as well as some asked via Facebook Live.

Someone on Facebook Live asked whether the switch to FATHOM would increase their water bill. Haverlah explained that yes, it could result in a higher bill, but not from any rate increases. Instead, the meters are newer and are more accurate and therefore able to register closer to the actual amount, whereas the older ones might not have registered the full amount of water running through, Haverlah said. 

A point brought up more than once was regarding customers who were billed for larger amounts of water used than what they used or than what would be possible to be used. 

Robbie Marion said her bill showed she used 2,300 gallons of water per month, something she never managed to do when she had five children living with her. She could not find a leak anywhere in her tank. 

Another resident said he and his wife received a bill for extremely high consumption- 90,000 gallons, to be exact. The average was previously 8,000 gallons. He also checked for leaks and couldn’t find any nor could any city workers who came out to look for leaks. 

“That’s eight swimming pools worth of water, so I’m pretty sure I’d notice that kind of leak,” he said. 

Haverlah assured him that accounts with high consumption such as theirs were previously being flagged and they had been notifying customers. 

“Any consumption that is 10,000 gallons or more and that is a 100 percent increase in the average consumption that has been billed will be flagged as a high usage and will receive an automated phone call letting you know that your bill coming out is going to be higher than normal. That phone call will take place before that bill is mailed,” explained FATHOM implementation analyst, Jacki Whitson. 

Haverlah shared customer service options for residents. The Utilities phone number is 844-685-6349. The FATHOM email address is copperascove.support@gwfathom.com and the website is https://copperascove.gwfathom.com. A mobile app for FATHOM is available from iTunes and the Google Play store. Residents can still go to the Utilities office at 305 S. Main St. The office will relocate to city hall, 914 S. Main St, Suite A in late May or early June 2017. 

Haverlah also shared the different ways customers could pay their bill, via the online portal  (U2You), or by mail, phone, bank bill pay, credit/debit card, auto draft via check and card, cash, or check-ACH draft. If customers pay by card, there is a 2.8 percent processing fee. For connecting or disconnecting water service, customers can either submit the request online or call, Haverlah added.