City Services

I tried calling the Water Department this morning to find out why I've been billed for service from before I bought my house. The woman who answered the phone did a terrible job of explaining my bill to me. She kept quoting numbers that didn't match the numbers on my bill, and she couldn't clearly explain if I was being charged an estimated amount or an exact amount. She did explain that when I bought the house, I bought the water bill (although the seller made a payment to them at closing which was supposed to cover the expenses). I tried calling my attorney, but he couldn't figure out much either.

My house does have a remote water meter sensor attached to the front porch. In theory, the water bill is an accurate reflection of the water usage. The numbers on the meter inside, however, are a lot higher the numbers on the bill. This caused me to panic, because it seemed to suggest I might end up owing hundred of dollars for water used before I bought the house.

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for one of the city-issued blue trash receptacles. My house used to have one, every other house on the street has one, but mine is gone. The orange recycling bin is also gone, but the refuse department was able to get me a new one immediately. For the blue trash bin, the best they could do was put me on "a list." This was several weeks ago. Not having a trash bin means I have to store the trash in the basement and bring it out in time for pickup on Monday mornings. Home Depot has bins that look compatible with Waterbury's trucks. Maybe tomorrow I'll call the refuse department again, ask how long of a wait there is for the blue bins, then ask if the HD bins will work. It's probably too much to hope that I could get a refund on my taxes for buying my own bin, but storing my trash in the basement isn't a lot of fun.

The phone line isn't a city service, but this seems like a good place to mention that it isn't working. The phone thinks it's in use and has been since sometime last night. AT&T says they'll send a repairman on Wednesday between 8am and 5pm (I don't have to be here). The problem seems odd to me, since anyone calling me will get a busy signal, even though I have call waiting. Tech mysteries.