A Port Arthur minister, troubled that his elderly mother’s water service was cut off recently, kept a lonely picket watch Monday over City Hall.

The Rev. Harry Abrams, who writes a religion column for The Port Arthur News, set up his one-man protest line early Monday and vowed to hold it all week, if necessary.

“Wednesday I came home and the water was off,” Abrams said, standing on the sidewalk outside City Hall. He said his mother, Joyce Sanders, 77, with whom he lives, has lived in the home at 239 Mockingbird Lane, built by her parents, for most of her life.

Abrams said his mother had received a water bill from City Hall a couple of months back for more than $5,000 at the residence, where she usually pays bills of less than $50 a month.

He said his mother, who is recovering from a stroke, drove to City Hall to lodge her concern to Rhonda Stanberry, and was promised that the bill would be adjusted and that her water service would not be cut off.

“They assured my mother it would not get turned off,” Abrams said.

Then it was.

Abrams said the water department quickly turned the water back on after a night with no service and complaints from his family. Later, the city reduced her bill from $5,000 to about $500, he said, still more than his mother, who is on a fixed income, can afford to pay. He said his mother
remains uncertain about why the bill was so high or why her service was cut off.

“I don’t know if it is the meter or what,” Abrams said.

His concern stretches past that of his own family, Abrams said. A friend of his mother’s was billed for $2,700, he said. Another friend started getting monthly bills of $200 for a house he owns — and no one lives there.

Bonita Brown, 524 W. 17th St., left City Hall on Monday afternoon assured her faulty bill of some $600 would be addressed. She said she usually pays $30-$40 a month. She said when the high bill arrived, she was told an adjustment would be made. Yet, she said, bills got “higher, higher, higher.”

Awaiting an adjustment from Stanberry, she said she was assured the bill would be corrected.

Outside City Hall, Clara Gertman of 526 Dallas Ave. said she received a bill for $1,581.13. She said she started getting erroneous bills last August, but she said that bill was downsized to about $24. She said her bills usually run about $35-$40 a month.

Assistant City Manager Becky Underhill said Monday that the city has encountered problems with some meters and some bills — perhaps 10 percent of some 17,000 customers — showed no consumption, only the monthly service charge. Some bills that went to customers in late November, early December contain errors, she said.

She said the city recently released a statement that confirmed a high number of customer calls and suggested that customers with unusually high bills should call the following customer service numbers: 409-983-8230, 409-983-8228, 409-983-4228, 409-983-8234, 409-983-8233.

She said customers would be charged for average consumption, and that no one’s service would be cut off as they struggle to make payments.