Aug. 14--Tinley Park Mayor Dave Seaman apologized for the village's handling of water meters that overcharged residents.
The mayor's comment came Wednesday night during a town hall meeting hosted by state Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Tinley Park, in response to public outcry over the Tribune's June investigation of the south suburb's water meter program.
Tinley Park officials knew for years that the village's type of electronic "smart" water meter was prone to overbill residents, yet they gave the public inaccurate information about the program and repeatedly under-refunded residents, the Tribune found.
A crowd of several dozen residents attended the forum at Prairie View Middle School. Representatives from ComEd, Nicor and other utility organizations joined Tinley Park's water department for the forum, though attendees were primarily concerned with the village's meter program.
Some residents walked around showing off their water bills to each other. "Mine is $590," said one resident, after overhearing another's tale of $400 water bill woe.
The first citizen to ask a question confronted Seaman about the village's failure to inform residents who complained about high bills that the town's main meters are known to overcharge.
Immediately after Hastings called for questions, Tim Allen asked when the village first became aware of the overcharging problem. Seaman said the village knew there were some issues in 2013, when a British company paid nearly $186,000 to Tinley Park to void its water meter warranty with the village.
"When I brought the issue to the city, they did not disclose the problem that they knew existed in 2013," the resident responded.
As the exchange developed, Seaman acknowledged "problem meters and problems with the way it was addressed," and said the village should've done better.
"There is an issue and to the extent that (it) did not get addressed, I have to apologize," said Seaman, who also pointed out that the Public Works department's leadership has changed.
Dale Schepers, who headed the department since 2004, resigned last month amid questions over his handling of the water meters situation.
"The best thing I can do is tell you we'll make it right," Seaman said.
One resident wanted to know what Tinley Park did with its nearly $186,000 payout from the British company.
"Did you get a new meter?" Seaman asked in response. "That's what we did with it."
Another resident wanted to know how the process for refunding residents will work. Seaman said he will defer to West Monroe Partners, a Chicago-based consulting firm that the village hired to perform an external review following the Tribune's investigation.
As part of its contract, the firm is reviewing the village's billing procedures.
After a handful of sharp questions, Hastings stepped in and invited the assembled crowd to approach village officials directly with their issues. The crowd, which had been seated, quickly swarmed around Tinley Park's representatives, filling out "report-a-concern" forms and talking with officials.
The Tribune's investigation revealed there were more than 355 cases of meters found to be overstating water flow since 2007 -- more than double the 150 figure Tinley Park officials gave residents. That figure doesn't count thousands more meter failures identified in village documents that lack information showing how they broke, or 44 more overcharging meters identified by the village this year.
Resident Tim Herman told the Tribune he was "livid" when he read the newspaper's stories because he'd been complaining about his water bills and felt he wasn't being heard.
"The part that was so frustrating is, when you went to the village, they treated you like you're an idiot," Herman said.
Another resident, Bill Beauchamp, came to the meeting searching for answers about a bill he said was more than $250 higher than he is typically charged.
"I got ripped off, somewhere down the line," Beauchamp said.
gpratt@tribpub.com
