Contributor Opinion By Wendy Kiang-Spray: The Connection Between My Water Bill And Hoffmann Lawn Signs

>Earlier this year, we received a $2,500 utility bill from the City of Rockville. Yes, my jaw dropped as well. The following day, I steadied myself for a rumble with a phone operator to resolve this obvious clerical error. Unfortunately, after several visits by technicians from the City of Rockville as well as our own plumber, it was discovered that there was a broken water pipe under the house that had been steadily watering the lawns of all my neighbors for several months. Our plumber estimated that we were losing a gallon of water per minute.

It was impossible to believe we had a leak of this severity and for this length of time. There was no change in our water pressure. There was no standing water on our property. There was no water damage in the house. When I thought about the multiple trips I typically take with watering can in hand from rain barrel to garden while we were actually losing a gallon of water per minute under the house, well, I was almost moved to tears at the waste. How could we have known - and isn’t there a Rockville Water Czar watching for this kind of thing?

We needed help and answers. The City of Rockville informed us that on a particular date, they left a paper hang tag on the door warning that our water bill was irregularly high. There was no paper hang tag. Not on the door, not on the lawn. Even if the City did leave a paper hang tag, is this really the most responsible way to let a resident know about a broken water pipe involving this much of a waste of resources? My neighbor was practically harassed when the bottom 3 inches of her white picket fence was beginning to wear away. She was threatened fines through letters, repeated phone calls, and of course, paper hang tags.

I e-mailed [mayor] Susan Hoffmann. I met her at the Farmer’s Market a few years ago during her first term. I was impressed by her supposed interest in environmental issues. Surely she should know about this incident. She would care. And surely, she’d have some sort of idea for how a resident can pay a $2500 water bill. To make the financial situation more of a nightmare, by the time we received the first bill, we were a month or two into service for the next bill, which turned out to be about $1500. I get no response from Susan Hoffmann. Nothing. The Assistant to the City Manager was lovely however. She was quick to respond and always careful to show that she understood our situation. Despite several e-mails back and forth that yielded no real solutions, I noticed Susan Hoffmann’s feedback was curiously missing. I again copied Susan Hoffmann and expressed my frustration with the responsive yet ineffective messages from the Assistant and asked to hear from Susan Hoffmann. No comment. Perhaps I had set my hopes too high after meeting her at the Farmer’s Market and being impressed with her environmental agenda. I didn’t need her to pay my bill. I didn’t need her to come to my house with a box of tissues. A simple, “Wow, we’ll figure out how to deal with this”, or even a simple “omg” probably would have sufficed. Instead, I got no comment. Come on now, is Rockville really that big that she can’t find time for a simple “omg”?

We did get Rockville’s “ONE-TIME” discount on our water bill - a problem since I still consider myself young and hope to live in Rockville for a few more years yet - what if this happens again? We will have already used our one-time get-out-of-jail-free card. A problem for residents since I’m certain there are people in Rockville on fixed incomes who can’t afford to pay thousands of dollars in water bill when they’re not sufficiently notified about a severe water pipe break. A problem since the environmental aspect was never addressed. A problem since the City refused to acknowledge that the paper hang tag method may not be the most effective method of informing residents- and that there are no plans to make any changes to this method, despite my best arguments.

In the end, we took advantage of our one-time discount, paid the still very large water bill and spent over $3000 in repairs. Hopefully there is currently no leak under my house. I suppose I wouldn’t find out until the bill came though. For now, all is quiet in my little section of Rockville. Lawns are going dormant with our cold weather - save for the popping up of “Hoffmann for Mayor” lawn signs.

Will I vote for Hoffmann? Probably. I like the direction in which Rockville has been headed. Our city has become a great place to live and work. Vibrant. Exciting. With efforts to be green. But will I put a Hoffmann lawn sign on MY lawn? No comment.

Wendy Kiang-Spray

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