The city’s Memphis Light, Gas and Water Committee met with the MLGW board to discuss having individual water meters installed at newly-constructed condos and on conversions to condominiums today.
In January, City Councilman Myron Lowery proposed an ordinance that, if passed, would require all newly constructed condominiums to receive individual water meters. In the past, MLGW president Jerry Collins has said that the company was in support of Myron’s proposal. However, a decision wasn’t made regarding the proposed ordinance during the meeting Tuesday, March 18th. The matter is slated to be discussed during the next MLGW committee meeting on April 1st.
Another topic tackled during the meeting dealt with existing multi-family apartments and condominiums that have landlords neglecting to pay utility bills. Over recent years, this has had adverse impacts on tenants, and forced some to evacuate their homes. In 2013, tenants of Garden Walk Condominiums were required to exit their residences after a $30,000 water bill wasn’t fulfilled by its homeowner association.
To avoid similar occurrences in the future, the MLGW committee requested that if an apartment complex owner neglects to pay an existing MLGW water bill for two consecutive months, MLGW notifies Memphis Code Enforcement. Code Enforcement would then issue a citation and, if necessary, take the matter to court. This would be done to make sure MLGW is compensated for its distributed utilities and people would not be forced to leave their homes. A decision was not made on this proposal either and will also be revisited during the next committee meeting.