Hello neighbors:

I want to address the recent “water availability” charge that some of you have started receiving from Plymouth. First and foremost, I sincerely apologize that you’re hearing about this after the fact. I understand that the surprise nature of this fee has caused frustration, with some feeling misled. Please direct any criticism toward me, as this oversight was entirely my responsibility—not the broader city council’s.

A few years ago, during negotiations for the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) with Plymouth, we successfully negotiated a delay in both the household hookup requirements and the city’s water maintenance fees for the first 10 years. However, what I overlooked was that our JPA also inherently adopted a provision from Plymouth’s robust city code for a “water availability” fee ($35/year, billed at $2.89 every other month), which Plymouth bills directly to residents. I encourage you to review Chapter VII, Section 720 of Plymouth’s city code, and you may agree this detail could be easily overlooked.

We only recently became aware of this fee as our water system went live with Plymouth. While there are no excuses for this notice not going out sooner, I’ve had a particularly busy few weeks at my new job and had planned to send a citywide notice this coming weekend. Unfortunately, I didn’t anticipate that Plymouth would begin their billing process so quickly, and, regrettably, you are receiving this explanation after the fact. For that, I sincerely apologize.

I understand it’s frustrating to receive an unexpected bill. However, for $35/year (though not the $0 I originally believed), our residents still retain the flexibility, with a few exceptions, to choose whether or not to connect to city water over the next decade. While I wish there were no fee, I hope we can agree that this is a relatively small amount and move past this issue.

Please feel free to reach out to Councilmember McNaughton or me directly if you have any questions.

Thank you for your understanding,