Sandpoint: Association owes $500,000

SANDPOINT - The Syringa Heights Water Association, which provides water to some 180 customers, owes the city of Sandpoint $524,220 in accrued overage charges, according to a notification letter sent to the group by the city.

Serving residents of Dover and areas west of Sandpoint, the association has a 40-year contract with Sandpoint to purchase water for its users.

In 1993, the Sandpoint City Council passed a resolution limiting the association to 2.3 million gallons of water per year, with a $50 overage charge on every thousand gallons of water exceeding the limit.

For reasons unknown, Sandpoint's finance office was not made aware of the resolution and overage charges were not billed for nearly 15 years. In July, Treasurer Shannon Syth learned of the resolution and calculated the association's water usage since 2003, which showed nearly 10.5 million gallons of excess usage.

"They passed the resolution in 1993, but that resolution never made it to the finance office. No one ever mentioned it. No one ever brought it to our attention," Syth said.

The issue was addressed at Wednesday's Public Works meeting, where city staff and committee members met with board members from the water association in an attempt to resolve the situation.

The committee discussed a number of potential options, including incorporating the association into Sandpoint's water system, dividing it between Dover and Sandpoint, or negotiating a lower penalty.

Syringa board member Fred Darnell said the $50 per 1,000 gallon overage fee is unreasonable and hinted the entire board would resign if Sandpoint attempted to collect the money.

"I don't think any board members would lose any sleep if the board disbanded," Darnell said.

Sandpoint City Attorney Will Herrington agreed with Darnell, calling the charges "onerous" and advising the council to negotiate a settlement.

While unlikely to happen, the city could seek as much as $3,000 from each Syringa Heights Water Association member to rectify the overages, but board member Ron Brady is confident that the issue will be resolved in another way.

"I don't want to make a big issue out of it because it's certainly not going to end up being a big issue, I don't believe," Brady said. "To me it's not newsworthy. It's just a bunch of gossip at this time."

Brady said association members have not been informed of the notification because, among other reasons, many of the members are elderly and Brady does not want to alarm them.

The issue will go before the full council when it meets Sept. 17 at 5:30 at City Hall.