Rockland’s water law gets teeth

Refuse access, incur a fee

By Marge Feuerstein | Manor Ink Mentor

Local Law No. 1 that was passed by the Town of Rockland Board in March is an amendment to Section 180-23 of Chapter 180, titled “Water Service of the Code of the Town of Rockland.” Why did the board feel it necessary to amend the code? And why should the residents of the town care?

According to Supervisor Rob Eggleton, some residents have been refusing to allow town workers entry to their homes to check on end-point water meters, despite the fact that refusal is illegal. “This even happens very often when residents are at home,” Eggleton said.

In some cases residents may just not want to let anyone in. But in other cases, they refuse because they are bypassing meters. “This is actually stealing water from the town,” said Eggleton. “That results in law abiding residents paying more.”

The original town law requires homeowners to allow town water workers to enter their homes. The amendment to the law was necessary because there was no penalty provided in the code. Prior to its passage, the town could not punish lawbreakers in any way.

The average life of a meter is 20 years, and many are now aging out. So it is now vital that the town get an accurate count and assess the condition of the current meters.

After the amendment was drafted, a public hearing was held on Mar. 21. The board then voted unanimously to pass the amendment and sent it to Albany. The state approved the amendment as written and the board then set a penalty for refusing entrance. The amendment was written so that the penalty was termed a “fee” and was set at $500. If a resident refuses entry to their home, a certified letter will be sent and the resident has 30 days to comply. If the fee is then not paid, the amount is added to their next quarterly water bill. If they do not pay that, it will be sent to the county and added to their residential tax bill. The penalty is worded as a fee rather than a fine. Non-collection of fines can end up in court, fees do not.

Local Law No. 1 has now put teeth into the water service law, and hopefully there will be less pilfering of the town’s precious commodity.