Niantic Star owner wins partial water-bill relief after commission hears of broken exterior toilet

Basim Dadal, owner of Niantic Star gas station at 263 Flanders Road, told the East Lyme Water & Sewer Commission on June 16 that an exterior bathroom at his station had been broken into and left running for an unknown period, producing a combined water and sewer bill of roughly $8,000.

"I never use it. I never use it in my life," Dadal said, describing a door that was broken and a toilet that apparently ran for weeks before staff detected the leak with a replacement meter. He told the commission he repaired the plumbing after staff identified the leak and asked the board to relieve the sewer portion of the charge because the damage was not deliberate.

Staff said the account’s typical usage is about 28,000 gallons and that an old meter’s dial problems prevented earlier detection of the leak; a new meter later showed a high cumulative reading (about 400,000 gallons). "I do think that it's reasonable to adjust the water bill," Ben, a town staff member, said, but he noted the commission’s policy typically does not permit sewer adjustments for commercial accounts and that New London charges for sewer flow are passed through to the town.

Commissioners questioned whether the commission had the authority to forgive sewer charges and recommended that Dadal file a police report or pursue commercial insurance to document the break-in. "A police report attesting that [a criminal act] occurred would be really helpful to help make us make a decision," one commissioner said.

A motion to apply the commission’s one-and-10 adjustment formula to reduce the water charge (but not the sewer charge) was moved, seconded and carried after an amendment granting staff authority to arrange a payment plan with the customer. The staff-proposed post-adjustment water balance presented to the board was $6,486.35, a savings on the water portion of about $1,557.28; the owner said he would work with staff on payment arrangements.

The commission declined to grant sewer relief at the meeting, citing long-standing policy and the fact that the sewer charge had already been passed on to New London; members expressed concern about setting a precedent that could increase costs for other customers. The commission encouraged the owner to pursue a police report and commercial insurance as possible avenues for recovery.

The commission closed the item by directing staff to process the approved one-and-10 water adjustment and to work with the owner on a payment plan. The matter did not include a formal finding as to fault; commissioners framed the change as an exercise of the existing water adjustment policy rather than a waiver of sewer pass-through charges.