ServLine – Leak Adjustment program

The ServLine Leak Protection Program is a Water Loss program for water utilities and their customers. Designed to protect all qualifying customers from the potentially costly expense from Lost Water and high water bills, ServLine also helps water utilities recapture lost revenue and bad debt associated with customer water leaks.  ServLine helps utilities with the frustrations that take place when a customer has a water leak with a resulting high water bill. That unexpected occurrence causes many pain points for both the utility and the customer. ServLine helps to take that off of your shoulders and provide a turnkey solution for customer water loss issues. 

In short, ServLine pays high water bills caused by customer’s leaks. This insurance backed program helps water utility companies recapture lost revenue and bad debt associated with customer water leaks while also reducing the stress, effort, & time involved in the leak adjustment process.  In addition to the relief to your utility, your customers have the peace of mind that they will be freed from the financial burden if this unexpected expense occurs.  

The National League of Cities (NLC) Service Line Warranty Program was conceived to educate property owners about their service line responsibilities and to help residents avoid the out-of-pocket expense for unanticipated and potentially costly service line repairs and replacements.

As an Overview, the program will:

• Educate property owners about their responsibility for service line maintenance and repair. (water and sewer)
• Provide homeowners optional affordable protection against significant and unexpected costs to remedy leaking water and sewer lines
• Ensure the delivery of timely, high-quality local repair services in adherence to all applicable codes

Program benefits include:

• No cost for the Town to participate
• Affordable plans for residents
• Potential revenue source for the Town (it is recommended that the town waive the $.50 per product per home per month)
• Increases citizen satisfaction
• Town Pre-Approves all mailing materials
• Repair or replace water and sewer service lines lateral from the main to the house
• Only available to residents by Town Approval

Additionally, the program can generate an ongoing, sustainable source of revenue for partner utilities and stimulates the local economy by using fully vetted local contractors to complete the repairs.

Dominion Energy offers the same service utilizing the same vendor to all of their customers.

Our Procurement Specialist contacted NLC to determine if this program had been put into place as a result of a competitively bid contract, and was advised that it was not.   While this is not a Town of Purcellville contract and does not have to follow the VPPA, action to endorse the contract and market to our citizens without vetting through a process is not recommended by the Procurement Specialist.  Additionally, the City of Maricopa, AZ joined the program in 2018 which generated negative publicity in a public article where the bidding process was questioned.  This city chose to receive the royalty payments.

Another potential issue to foresee is resident confusion about who provides the warranty and the perception that the Town is the provider and the entity to contact for repair or warranty issues due to the use of the Town's name and logo.

The Town Council should weigh the pros and cons of this program prior to making a determination whether to enter into the agreement and license the Town's logo, name and other branding for marketing purposes.

It is recommended to waive royalty payments ($.50 per product per home per month) to the Town to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest as this service did not go out on formal procurement.

I move that the Town Council authorize the Town Manager to proceed with the program and execute the agreement as outlined by the National League of Cities, as presented in the Marketing Agreement included with this staff report, which does not include royalties to the Town ($.50 per product per home per month).

(agreement would need amended if Council chooses to accept the royalty payments)