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<p>Luzerne County officials have uncovered the cause of a mysterious $54,731 water bill for the River Common fountain in 2016.</p><p>The Wilkes-Barre fountain&#8217;s pipes leak, but that&#8217;s not what prompted the skyrocketing bill, county Manager C. David Pedri told council members Tuesday.</p><p>The problem: a valve was never turned off after the fountain was activated one weekend in 2015, causing water to continuously flow into the nearby Susquehanna River, he said.</p><p>The water bill recently was made public because it was in the administration&#8217;s updated report on how the county spent its natural gas recreation funding. Several council members requested an explanation.</p><p>Pedri told council the problem came to light in June 2016, when Pennsylvania American Water sent a worker to read the fountain water meter and initially billed the county $97,000.</p><p>&#8220;Obviously, we were kind of upset about paying $97,000,&#8221; Pedri said.</p><p>Pedri stressed he was not manager at the time the fountain was activated and incorrectly turned off and said he has &#8220;no idea&#8221; why the fountain was operational for a weekend &#8212; he did not specify the dates &#8212; in 2015.</p><p>Officials have said the fountain was not used since 2014 because the county&#8217;s water usage increased when it was turned on. Cameras subsequently sent through the pipes verified cracks in several spots that would cost about $200,000 to repair. The fountain was designed to capture and recirculate water.</p><p>Pedri said the administration engaged in back and forth with the water company and negotiated a release deducting $52,000 from the bill, leaving a net $45,000 attributed to the valve problem. The total expense of $54,731 covered all fountain water for 2016.</p><p>The annual fountain water bills were $4,583 in 2012, $6,146 in 2013, $8,872 in 2014 and $5,811 in 2015, a report shows.</p><p>When negotiating the bill reduction, the administration successfully argued the water company should have been reading the meter every other month instead of waiting until June 2016, Pedri said.</p><p>As a precaution, the administration shut off water service to the fountain last year, removed the water meter and changed the locks to the fountain operation room to ensure only certain employees have access, Pedri said.</p><p>An instruction manual also has been created on how to activate and shut down the fountain in case it is ever repaired.</p><p>Pedri said fountain water is an allowable expense with natural gas recreation funding.</p><p>County Councilman Stephen A. Urban said he believes the bill should be paid by the county&#8217;s general fund operating budget &#8212; not the special recreation pot &#8212; because the county was at fault. He said the water company bill indicated hundreds of thousands of gallons were wasted during a four-month period.</p><p>&#8220;Somebody in the county turned it on and left it running for four months,&#8221; Urban said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think the people who rely on those limited recreation funds should suffer.&#8221;</p><p>In addition to the fountain, the recreation funds have been spent on black fly spraying, recreation grants to outside entities and up to 10 percent of the salaries for building and ground and engineering workers as permitted by law, officials said. Council plans to award a portion of the $65,457 in remaining funds to outside entities.</p><p>Located at the Wyoming Valley levee portal opening between the county courthouse and Market Street Bridge, the fountain had been rarely used since it was added to the revamped riverfront recreational area unveiled in June 2009, largely because county officials said they couldn&#8217;t afford water testing.</p><p>Officials agreed to the turn it back on in 2014 after lawyers determined the fountain doesn&#8217;t fall under the same category as public swimming pools, which require water testing twice a day when they are operational.</p><p>The administration did not ask council to earmark past-borrowed funds or natural-gas funding for fountain repairs due to more pressing needs.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_fountain-2.jpeg">
<div class="neCaption">A child enjoys the River Common fountain along the Susquehanna River in 2014. The fountain has been out of commission due to leaks. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_fountain-2.jpeg</photo0><caption0>A child enjoys the River Common fountain along the Susquehanna River in 2014. The fountain has been out of commission due to leaks. </caption0><photoCredit0>File photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

$54K water bill for River Common fountain explained