An apartment fire last week in Warsaw not only displaced five families, it revealed a billing error that will ultimately cost the building’s owner more than $6,000.

It was because of the Nov. 29 fire at 423 E. Arthur St. that the Warsaw Wastewater billing office learned that the building had 5 apartments, but was only being billed for 4 units. Upon further investigation, Roger Long of the city’s Building and Plan Department also found three other properties owned by Chad Zartman that have more apartments than the city’s database showed.

Zartman purchased the apartment building on Arthur Street in August 2011 and had been under billed a total of $880.20. In September 2012, Zartman also purchased a three-unit building at 321 S. Union St., but only two of the units were billed for wastewater services.

The other two buildings owned by Zartman have been under billed since 1999 and 2005 respectively. Indiana State Code only allows municipalities to seek back payments for a period not to exceed 6 years. The amounts owed for each of those buildings is $2,336.40.

Warsaw’s Board of Public Works and Safety this morning authorized Mary Lou Plummer of the Wastewater Payment Office to bill Zartman for the due balances totaling $6,074.60. The amount will be divided into equal payments over a 1-year period and added to the regular monthly bills.

Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said, “This is a really good reason to have rental registrations with the city. That would mitigate some of the problems, but there’s a moratorium on that so the city can’t do it.”

In other business, the B.O.W.:

• approved a $24,800 contract with Wessler Engineering to conduct a sewer service study and prepare a master plan for the area that encompasses the Warsaw Technology Park. The purpose is to evaluate the existing 12-inch sewer at Polk Drive and Silveus Crossing to determine if it is sufficient for future development.
• approved a 2014 agreement for the Housing Authority of Warsaw to oversee unsafe housing conditions and the Section 8 assistance program. The contract provides the Housing Authority with $30,000 for its services.
• agreed to pay Harold McComb & Son Inc. $101,323.80 for work on the third floor of the city hall building. City planner Jeremy Skinner said the work is to be completed Monday with OrthoWorx to begin moving in on Tuesday and Wednesday. The entire renovation project is at no more than $7,000 over what was estimated.