Paul Danielczyk

PERTH AMBOY – Local Businessman Paul Danielczyk spoke at the 3/12/14 Council Meeting on behalf of his mother who lives in Perth Amboy. Danielczyk was concerned because his mother’s water bill is usually between $40 to $60. The last bill was $732. Her five gallon tank had been replaced by a 1.6 gallon tank.

“My mother is 89 years old. I called the B.A. who suggested she could be put on a payment plan. My mom who is very alert says she is not paying this bill. The plumber came and said there is nothing wrong with her toilet.”

Danielczyk believes that there may be an electronic or billing error. B.A. Greg Fehrenbach said, “Two to three people looked at her meter and electronic logs are done for all readings. I don’t know how often calibrations are done. The meter was even sent out for testing. An USAPA employee did a radio and visual on it. There’s no evidence that the meter had false readings or tampering done. Mr. Danielczyk was concerned that there was no paperwork from the City. He would like the City to contact the plumber about this problem so we can have this bill resolved. The B.A. reported that Luis Perez Jimenez (Director of Operations at the at the USAPA (Utility Service Associates Perth Amboy) Middlesex Water Company) called the plumber, but there was no solution.”

Fehrenbach said, “Perez agreed that this resident’s water bill had consistently been in the $40 to $60 range except in that one month where there was a large spike. Then it went back down.”

Resident Alan Silber said that he knows this woman and she has never been late on her water bill. “For her bill to be that high, it would be as if she was filling three huge swimming pools. Like I said before, this town needs a Public Advocate. A Public Advocate would free up time for City Employees. Residents can contact that advocate when they are having a problem such as this woman with her water bill. He/she would be able to field questions from the residents, contact the necessary departments and report back to the residents a possible solution to their problems.”

Stanley Sierakowski

A Council Member asked Silber if he wanted the job.

Resident Stanley Sierakowski said there could be a simple solution to this high bill. “It could be a billing error. Was a decimal point put in the wrong place? Check it out.”

Residents have complained about a large spike in their water bills at previous meetings.

Resident Dave Szilagyi suggested how you can test the water in your toilet tank for leakage by using food coloring. (You can Google it!)