After a 20 minute discussion last Monday,  the Clearwater City Council voted 3-2 to refund Rejoice Lutheran Church half of its last water bill.

Ken Maehren, representing the church at Monday’s meeting, said he and members of the church believed the watermain break on Main St. about three weeks earlier created a high pressure surge in the church’s water line, causing a hose to break on an outside faucet and leak water into the ground.

“The water pressure blew our hose off the distributor that goes to four different hoses out to our garden area,” said Maehren.

The water discharged into the ground. That water line was on a second water meter, installed specifically for watering the garden. It does not drain into the city’s sewer system so there was no associated sewer charge.

Members of the council discussed the likelihood of whether the water line break on Main St. was the actual cause.

Administrator Kevin Kress said it would be almost impossible to prove a cause-effect relationship.

Councilman Vern Scott said low water pressure is usually a result of a water line break, not high pressure.

But Maehren said he heard from other people who had similar problems in their houses.

Mayor Andrea Lawrence said her neighbor also had an issue with high water pressure.

Maehren said there had to be a correlation because there is no other way the hose could have been disconnected.

“It wasn’t because of us. It’s not an old system,” he said. “I go up there every year and turn the water on and inspect the pipe where the hose leads into it. The couplers were good.”

Maehren said in this case, the evidence pointed to a connection between the water line break and the church’s high water bill.

He showed the council a handful of previous bills. The average per month was $7.59 over the past 18 months. The most recent bill was $261.75, which equated to 137,620 gallons of water.

Kress aid it was up to the council to decide whether they wanted to waive or refund the water charges.

“I do not want to set a precedent,” said Scott.

Councilman Richard Petty was also reluctant to give a refund because the city’s policy has been not to approve refunds in the past. He said the city would constantly get requests by people whose utility bills were higher than usual.

A motion to deny the request failed with a 2-2-1 vote.

Lawrence made a motion to cover half the water charge because she felt there was likely a connection.

That vote passed, with Lawrence and Councilmen Kris Crandall and Wayne Kruchten voting in favor. Councilmen Petty and Scott voted against.