Water meters?

Our association does not have individual water meters. It seems to me I remember reading a post awhile back about private companies that install meters and also provide billing services. Does anyone know if such companies exist?

there are companies that do this. I have one association that simply uses a flat rate back bill on domestic use, one that uses a flat rate bill back based on prorated ownership (square footage of unit) and one that has independent meters that click on rate flow into a unit and they have a person read the meters and we as managemnt do the billing with a dues bill and collect an escrow at closing since the billings and readings are at least 6 weeks behind current date.

Missy,

Why did your attorney advise against shutting off the water for members who are delinquent. I know this a tactic used by many assn's that provide water to property owners. Sometimes it's the best leverage they have to get the delinquent owner to pay. Unless there is a state law against this or something in your gov docs preventing it, IMO, it IS a tactic you can use.

Donna just hated it when you moved out of Florida. OK what will it take to get you back home?

We have 120 townhouses. The rain the last few weeks has certainly helped, but it's going to take a long time to get our water levels back up. I talked to our water company and they have no problems with us shutting off the water. In fact they told us if the owners complained they would condemn their property for health reason. I told our attorney this and he still recommended against it.

The last time we had a drastic water increase we ended up having to hire a company to locate all the leaks at a tune of $5,000. I hate to become the water police, but this is getting totally out of control. That's why I wanted to check into water submetering. The more I read the better it sounds, just one big catch we don’t have the money.

I would suspect that in call cases you would have to modify the documents to go from a group bill, to charging for each unit's amount of use. If you have the ability to shut off a unit's water, then it would certainly be possible to install a meter. And the cost probably wouldn't be that bad on a per unit cost. (I would guess about $100 per unit installed.)

I don't know that I wouldn't check with a different attorney regarding not shutting off water for those not paying their dues. I would certainly ask him to explain why he is against it. (He should have a legal theory and not just some personal reason.)

Personally, I wouldn't be inclined to do so quickly, but if they are more then a couple months behind it could be considered. I would also personally turn it on if they came up with a plan to catch up over several months. Hard times happen, but that doesn't mean it isn't a business and others don't have to make up for the difference.

Oates Energy

http://www.oatesenergy.com/index.html

I have an interesting situation with our water meters. I guess this is a caution to future boards out there!

When our small, 19-unit townhome subdivision was built (1983), each unit was fitted with a water meter. Seems easy, right? Each individual unit pays the city utility company directly for their personal (in unit) water usage. This was back when each owner was responsible for front lawn care. At some point, it was decided the association would pay for front lawn landscaping, including watering. Now, there are two units that provide the water for the irrigation. My unit is one of them.

We looked into submetering the irrigation from my personal meter, but it's at least $5000 (EACH!). I live in the primary watering unit (isn't fate funny!), so I just write a personal check for our usage, and an association check for the association usage. I send both checks to the utility company with my own personal bill. Our utility company estimates usage of 500 cubic feet per person, so I as a person pay that, and the association pays anything additional. It requires significant cooperation between the two owners and the association, but it works for us.

Now, I just need to get this "agreement" formalized into our documents...

TracieS

Yes, Lakewoodridge THA in Brandon Fl has shut off water to those who do not pay monthly assessments. It took a long time but they finally got the needed backup from an attorney. There doc's also made water part of the montly assessment and like everyone else had units with large numbers using more water and paying the same fees. They used James DeFurio in Tampa to put the documents together and do all the legal work. It creates alot of dislike for the BOD in the community, but monies did come in. Good luck.

If someone quoted you a cost of $5000 for sub-metering, then make a note that this is a rip-off organization. There is just no way this could be considered reasonable. In researching costs for developing a park, it would have cost us less then $1000 for the city to place new water service.

You may want to call your city and check into getting the association their own water meter.

As a note you can buy a meter here for about $50:
http://www.jerman.com/dljmeter.html

It might not be accurate enough for being in the water business but should be fine considering your current arrangement. I would expect that a plumber should be able to put it into the line for an hour or tow of labor cost.

Ann, of course the city won't come put in sub metering. It would raise the cost with no benefit to the city. Combine that with the fact that those in your unit are unlikely to make enough fuss to sway any election and you get run over like normal. But you are also quite correct in that it could quite unfeasible to seperate out one unit's water supply from another's.

But to TracieS it is really quite simple. Install a $50 meter (or hey splurge and spend $100 on one with remote readout) at the point where the water for irrigation meets the house's water supply. At the high end you are talking two hours labor for each meter.

No, I don't really mind the current situation, as it saves a chunk of change for the association. Really, I was just commenting on how our situation works. A year or so ago I looked into separating the irrigation water out, but we've found a reasonable, workable solution, where the homeowners (me and the other owner) work together with the association for the best solution for us.

As you've read in my other posts, our paperwork is a mess, but at least we're nice to each other!

TracieS