Copperas Cove takes action to correct water bill issues

COPPERAS COVE, Texas — For nearly two years since the city of Copperas Cove outsourced its water utility services to a company called Fathom in 2016, customers have seen extremely high water bills, disconnection issues, web portal issues, and other problems with service.

One customer, Craig Teal, received a bill saying he used 50,000 gallons of water in six days, which cost him more than $400. When KCEN Channel 6 contacted Fathom, it turned out there had been a mistake reading Teal's meter and they said he would be re-billed.

Teal's neighbor, Theresa Haisma, had a bill for more than $1,000.

Other customers have been suddenly disconnected, or received disconnection notices after setting up payment. It even happened to City Councilman James Pierce Jr.

“Fathom did an upgrade in July and it affected my August bill,” Pierce said. “I got charged with a late payment, and then a week later, I got a disconnect notice.”

On Dec. 4, interim city manager Ryan D. Haverlah brought the council 15 different recommendations, which are listed below, to improve customer service in connection with Fathom. The city is doing less water service disconnects each day to make sure the disconnection orders are accurate after glitches in Fathom's system have caused incorrect water disconnections in the past. Another recommendation is that the city works with Fathom to improve the billing process and correct "deficiencies" in the process.

Additionally, Fathom could work with the city to assign a group of Fathom employees, called a pod, solely to Copperas Cove to provide better customer support.

Staff began internal discussions regarding a plan to move forward with improved customer service and

billing. That discussion was shared with Fathom and the actions were discussed.

1. Expand the local Utility Administration department's lobby area to allow more customers and seating.
2. Renovate old Utility Administration building to allow more customers, seating, and parking.
3. Limit the number of disconnects daily to ensure disconnects are timely and accurate.
4. Fund and fill a third Service Technician position in the Utility Administration department to provide the number of connects, disconnects, and service requests as required by ordinance and activity.
5. Fund and fill a fourth Service Technician position in the Utility Administration department to provide redundancy for inclement weather and leave/vacancies.
6. Fund and fill a third Customer Service Representative (CSR) position in the Utility Administration department to provide a greater level of customer service and redundancy for leave/vacancies.
7. Fathom assign a number of positions dedicated to Copperas Cove utility services, also known as pods.
8. Fathom have representatives locally for account setup, payments, and dispute resolution.
9. Fathom and City review documentation for the billing process with the purpose of correcting deficiencies and generating greater confidence in the billing process.
10. City and Fathom implement the leak detection notices to residential customers.
11. Fathom provide an information and instruction sheet for blanket account holders and a dedicated email for blanket account holders to request service changes.
12. Fathom to develop an online process for new account requests and setup.
13. City and Fathom maintain media continuity for clear and direct communication and responses.
14. Updates to City Council regarding complaints and resolutions.
15. Fathom provide a quarterly in-person update to City Council for 2019 and an annual in-person update to City Council after 2020. First quarterly report/update on February 5, 2019.