On June 15, 2020, Warner Robins Mayor and Council voted to raise city utility rates including water, wastewater and sewage for Warner Robins citizens every year for five years. While some did vote against this item, the item still passed. In 2020, 2021 and 2022, utility rates were raised for Warner Robins citizens respectively by 10%, 10% and 8%. Utility rates for Warner Robins citizens will be raised each year until 2025. Councilman Charlie Bibb was one of several councilmen who voted in favor of these rate increases.
Through an open records request, The Houston Home Journal found that the Bibbs’ residence was issued a Theft of Service document after moving into a custom built home and living there for several months, without a meter tracking any water or the subsequent utility usage, and without paying for any water, sewage, or stormwater in the time they’ve lived there, until December of 2021.
In the period between Feb. 2 to Feb. 17, The Houston Home Journal made 17 open records requests in order to provide the public with as much information as
possible.
The Timeline
On November 24 of 2020, Councilman Charlie Bibb and his spouse purchased land from Randle Home Builders, a custom homebuilder located in Warner Robins. Weeks later, on December 10 of 2020, the City of Warner Robins approved a building permit on the land for a new single-family dwelling,
Through the remainder of December and up until August of 2021, the home went through the construction process. On August 26 of 2021, the Bibb residence passed its final inspection and on the same day was issued its certificate of occupancy.
At no point during the building process was a meter installed to measure the usage of utilities during construction or after construction was complete.
Two months later, on October 26 of 2021 a building permit for a pool was issued to the residence.
Speaking with pool-building professionals, it was explained that liner pools must be filled as part of the building process. They are built and the liner is installed. After the liner is laid out, the pool is filled to check for leaks, to make sure the liner is on track, and to make sure nothing needs to be tightened. Typically, water is sourced from the home via water hose.
The Bibbs have owned their land for over a year. They contracted Randle Homes to build them a house, they went through the construction process, moved in, built and filled a pool, and according to the theft of service document, used utilities for three full months without paying for it. Although the Bibbs owned the property as far back as November of 2020, and went through several processes that required water, a meter was not installed on the property, and no tap-in fees were paid until December of 2021.
According to a receipt printed on December 7 of 2021, Randle Home Builders paid $950 for water tap-in fees, and $750 for sewer tap-in fees. The meter was installed some time in December of 2021.
For the theft of service, the Bibbs were charged $119.88 for three months of estimated utility usage, $130.00 as an “On Without Deposit” fee and $65.00 as a fee for activation — totaling to $314.88. The Bibbs were then billed $186.20 in January for their first metered utility bill, according to the account history provided in an open records request. Following the Bibbs receiving this bill, Mrs. Bibb elected to reach out to Mayor LaRhonda Patrick, Councilman Kevin Lashley, and Warner Robins Customer Service on February 11, stating: “I received my utility bill in the amount of $186.20 for services from 12/28/21 – 1/27/22. I’m not sure what your utilities bill is for 30 days but for me that is outrageous!”
City Clerk Mandy Stella responded: “This amount is reflective of 343 units of water consumed thru your meter. When meters are set, they are set at zero, however, I will be more than happy to have a reread put in to make sure this is correct. Are there any factors that could be causing high consumption? Filling of a pool, leaky toilet, running sprinklers everyday?”
At no point was a utility bill issued to the address for the cost of utilities used during the construction period between December of 2020 to August of 2021.
According to emails procured through open records, employees of the city were aware that the tap fees at the Bibb residence had not been paid. On August 26 of 2021, Amy Giles from Utilities sent an email to Sherry Bishop in Customer Service, informing Bishop that Mrs. Bibb “was supposed to go pay water and sewer tap fees,” the day before —which suggests that both the Bibbs and the city were aware that tap-in fees were not paid, and no water meter was installed.
Bishop responded, telling Giles that she spoke with Mrs. Bibb the day before, on Aug. 25, and that she would be coming in to pay the tap fees on Aug. 26 — the same day as this conversation — to pay the tap fees.
Giles thanked Bishop and informed her that she was told the Bibbs planned to move into their new home that very weekend.
The next day, on Aug. 27, Bishop informed Giles that Mrs. Bibb had not come in to pay the fees. Bishop later said: “When she comes in, [I] will let you know.” No confirmation email was ever sent.
Comments from Charlie Bibb and Charles Randle
On Feb. 15, The Houston Home Journal was able to contact Bibb. He was made aware of several of the documents that had been procured through open records.
Bibb told the Journal that he began attempting to resolve his home’s lack of a meter “immediately.” When asked to clarify when “immediately” was, he said he and his wife began the process in August before they moved into the home.
Bibb told The Journal that he did not move into his new home until he received the home occupancy certificate sometime around Sep. 15. The Certificate of Occupancy is dated for August 26 of 2021.
Bibb said that he was told by Randle Home Builders that there were no meters available at the time of his moving-in and also made note that there are several homes in his subdivision without meters. Bibb said that he initially attempted to stay out of the process due to him being a city councilman, and instead pursued the issue with his builder directly. Later, Bibb said: “Here’s what I should have done, which I didn’t do: my fault was that I wanted to stay out of it and let my wife handle it because I was a councilman, and I didn’t want to go down there saying, ‘I’m a councilman, this, this, this and this.”
According to Bibb, he waited until December to contact the city directly himself. Upon taking an active role and contacting Utilities Department Director Montie Waters, Bibb was told that the city did have meters but was actually out of sensors.
Bibb said when he discovered this information, he reached out to Charles Randle — owner and operator of Randle Home Builders — and told him that meters were available. As Bibb told it, Randle paid the tap fees soon after, and a meter was installed.
Bibb maintains that no fault lies with him, that he committed no Theft of Service, and that the city should not have issued his builder a building permit or a home occupancy certificate without tap fees being paid.
“I explained to [the city] that two things went through the city that should not have happened,” Bibb said. “Number 1: a building permit should not have been issued without the tap fees being paid. That is not a constituent’s problem, nor is that my problem; that is the city of Warner Robins’ problem.
“Number 2: I should not have been issued a home occupancy for my house without a meter. That should not have happened, those are both on the city.”
However, on Wednesday, Feb. 16, The Journal was able to contact Randle of Randle Home Builders. During his interview, Randle said the Bibbs were part of the entire building process.
“They did their own construction loan, they paid the bills as they went — so Randle Builders didn’t pay out anything; Charlie paid everything,” Randle said. “To a degree, I’m a subcontractor, but more or less a manager for them to build the house. I had a flat fee to build the house, and all the bills went directly to the Bibbs.”
Randle concurs with several of Bibb’s statements, that there are several homes built in Warner Robins that have gone some time without meters monitoring water consumption.
Upon further investigation, it was determined that in 2021, there were approximately 450 building permits issued for single-family dwellings, and approximately 465 water meters were installed in the City of Warner Robins.
During The Journals interview with Bibb, he said, “I have been requesting a letter from the city that I did not steal any services, which is in the works of doing it right now.” We later received a letter from the city addressing Mrs. Bibb which only stated: “Due to the circumstances and nature [of] the situation and City of Warner Robins code section 24-11 — Tampering with utility equipment and theft of utility services, your account was not placed with the Warner Robins Police Department for investigation. As it stands today, your account is in good standing with a balance of $186.20 due on February 18, 2022.” The letter was dated for Feb. 8 and was signed by City Clerk Mandy Stella.
Comments from Mayor LaRhonda Patrick
The Journal then reached out to Mayor LaRhonda Patrick, who commented on the city’s function regarding Theft of Service.
“My understanding is, our policy records theft after three months,” Patrick said. “There’s a three month grace period before a Theft of Service is reported. It’s like the city reminding them, and if they don’t do it before the expiration of three months then a Theft of Service is issued.
“Now that this issue has come to my attention we are going to be doing an investigation internally to find out all the missing pieces and all the answers to these questions.”
In the Warner Robins City Charter, there is a large section that addresses utilities, the penalties for their unlawful use and the theft of these services.
Section 24-4, subsection (a) of the Warner Robins City Charter states: “It shall be unlawful for any person to connect to the water, sewer or gas utilities systems of the city without first complying with all the rules, regulations and ordinances now applicable to tap-in, connection or service fees, and by placing the proper deposit for each of the services.”
This section later explains in subsection (c): “A violation of the above shall constitute a continuing daily crime against the city and shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or by imprisonment in the city jail for a period of not more than one (1) year, or both, for each offense.”
When asked if the Bibbs would be going to Municipal Court, Patrick said the city would stand by their charter and reiterated that the Theft of Service would be investigated thoroughly.
This is an ongoing investigation. Any further information that is uncovered will be printed in The Houston Home Journal.
HHJ News
