Housing Authority discusses discrepancy with city over water and sewage issues

As Ville Platte Housing Authority board met Tuesday, July 9, David Ortego, vice chairman, said there was a water situation which was a discrepancy between the billing of the city of Ville Platte and the Housing Authority for a meter that was not being read correctly. The city told the Housing Authority they can subtract what they owe the Housing Authority from the Pilot program (a grant-based program used for alternative housing needs), but the Housing Authority does not have that number. The city did not indicate the reimbursement as an over payment. Instead they showed it as a credit, but did not provide the amount of the credit. The board agreed to provide a number to the city in order to get reimbursement.
Ortego said the sewerage bill is still high and asked if there was an adjustment on it. Executive Director Grant Soileau said there is an adjustment, if they use less water. Secretary Fonda Lartigue said she told the city they need to settle up the water/sewerage issue, but Mayor Jennifer Vidrine told her to go ahead and subtract what the city owes them from the Pilot program, but Lartigue said they do not have that number.
Soileau said they have a number for the water, but not for the sewage. He said they would have to develop a number for the sewage and suggested going back 18 months to see where they were before the erroneous meter reading. Soileau said the issue had been going on for almost a year. He said the Housing Authority earmarked the period where the readings were off. They could look at the sewage readings prior to that to see where they were and then 12 months prior to that day. Then they can come up with a number for the sewerage and can add that number to the estimate city engineer Ronnie Landreneau has. He said if the city has a problem with that formula, they can give them a different number.
Lartigue said they can look back to last October when the discrepancy was noticed. Soileau said the readers for sewage and water started being inaccurate at the same time. He said they can isolate the problem to one particular meter. Soileau said the average prior to the meter malfunction was between $100.00 and $120.00 for four apartments and then became $800.00, $900.00, and one time even $1,400.00.
Ortego made a motion to use Landreneau’s estimate and deduct it from the Pilot charge, and use it to develop the sewage difference and use those two numbers to subtract from the capital charge and send the city a check for that amount. The board approved the motion.
For more coverage of Tuesday’s meeting, pick up a copy of Sunday’s Ville Platte Gazette.