13.10.070 Utility shut-offs – Extreme heat.
(1) Purpose. To establish procedures to prioritize the well-being and safety of its residents during a heat-related event while ensuring fair and responsible financial practices regarding water service in compliance with ESHB 1329. The provisions of this policy apply exclusively to residential users.
(a) Qualifying Events. For purposes of this policy, a heat-related event and/or alert shall include any day that the National Weather Service (NWS) has issued or has announced that it intends to issue an excessive heat warning, heat advisory, excessive heat watch, or similar alert, for the area in which the residential user’s address is located. The provisions of this policy shall be reasonably construed in a manner consistent with applicable state law, including without limitation ESHB 1329.
(b) Notifications. Disconnection notices issued due to nonpayment shall inform the customer of the ability to reconnect water services during heat-related events, as follows: “During a National Weather Service heat-related alert, you may request reinstatement of service by calling 360-795-3203 x9 during the period covered by the alert.”
(c) Disconnections. On the regularly scheduled shut-off day, town staff will review the current NWS data online at https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wa.php?x=1 to determine if a heat-related alert is in effect. If there is no heat-related alert in place, shut-offs for nonpayment will occur per the usual process.
If a heat-related alert is in effect for the scheduled date of shut-off, water disconnection for nonpayment will be delayed until the next available day in the current week when the heat-related alert is lifted.
If the National Weather Service heat-related alert remains in place for the current week and the following week, the water disconnection for nonpayment will be rescheduled to the subsequent month on the regularly scheduled shut-off day.
(d) Reconnections. Customers requesting reinstatement of service due to a National Weather Service heat-related alert can avoid immediate shut-off once the alert is lifted by:
(i) Paying the past due balance in full prior to the alert being lifted.
(ii) Entering into a payment plan by contacting the town prior to the alert being lifted.
(A) The payment plan will stipulate that the current billing must be paid and remain current;
(B) The past-due balance must be paid by the following May 15th, or as soon as possible after May 15th if needed to maintain monthly payments that are no greater than six percent of the customer’s monthly income. Customers can choose to pay more than six percent of their monthly income to pay the past due amount prior to the following May 15th.
(iii) Failure to maintain the payment plan will result in immediate shut-off of services.
If a customer refuses to fill out a payment plan, fails to maintain the payment plan, or declines to pay the full past-due amount, water service will be disconnected on the first business day after the NWS heat-related alert is lifted.
Subject to the foregoing and the provisions of ESHB 1329, upon receipt of a request for reinstatement of service the town shall promptly make a reasonable attempt to reconnect service to the customer’s dwelling. Reconnections under this section are only applicable to customers who were originally disconnected due to nonpayment and not as a result of other circumstances.
(e) Fees. For customers requesting services to be restored during an NWS heat-related alert, the water shut-off and turn-on charges established by CMC 13.10.060 shall not apply. Penalties charged in the normal course of business for any past due amounts will still be assessed.
(f) Reporting. The town of Cathlamet will maintain required documentation containing the number of customers shut off during an NWS heat-related alert which will be provided to the Department of Commerce upon request as required by ESHB 1329. (Res. 441 § 1 (Exh. A), 2023)