DEP Commissioner stresses conservation.

Environmental Protection Commissioner Marilyn Gelber made it clear that her priority in water metering is to promote conservation, but Associated Builders and Owners members were quick to complain that tenants have no incentive to keep taps turned off.

In fact, after her speech at the Mariott Marquis, one after another owner explained that tenants keep taps turned on to harass owners.

"Water shouldn't be a weapon against landlords," agreed Gelber. Later, concerned about the problem, she told REW she would be looking into the possibility of pass-alongs and other measures to motivate tenants.

Gelber came out of City Planning in the Lindsay administration and has an ongoing interest in environmental protection. She most recently worked for the Brooklyn borough president before her appointment by Mayor Rudolf Giuliani to her current post, succeeding Albert F. Appleton.

She believes that water conservation is a key to complying with environmental mandates. But the city is faced with an old, leaky infrastructure that she says owners can affect by upgrading their own buildings. The city itself is implementing sonar techniques to find and seal leaks in its 6,000 miles of water mains.

Gelber praised the original water planners at the turn of the century who designed the system based on gravity, so that New York and the upstate municipalities using the water supply do not have high electrical costs as in other cities.

Nevertheless water rates rose some 200 percent in the late 1980s after city subsidies ended and the users faced capital costs, including the replacement of water mains and construction of sewage treatment plants. While no increase in water rates is expected this year, mayoral budget documents show a planned increase for fiscal years 1996 and 1997 of 5.5 percent annually.

As part of conservation efforts, city kids will be hotter this summer as Gelber puts locks on all city fire hydrants, halting even the procedure of giving out special hydrant sprinkler caps. This will "stop the practice of using city drinking water for amusement," she said.

But it is not just the use of water that affects finances. Gelber is also immersed in trying to protect the upstate watershed. If the city is unable to put together a filtration avoidance program within three years, the $6 billion to $8 billion cost of a filtration plant will mean double and even triple the current rates.

The city is in the midst of increasing its protection to 80,000 acres of Catskill land - a program that is worrying upstate municipalities and property owners who are fearful it will halt development.

"We must achieve a balance between environment and development," she observed. "We need to figure out new ways of governance and regulating the upstate watersheds."

What goes into the sanitary drain itself also affects costs, since this grey water must be cleaned before it can be released into the rivers.

Gelber warned that if flows to the North River treatment plant that services the Upper West Side of Manhattan are not decreased substantially, the city could be faced with a moratorium on development. City usage averages 200 gallons per person per day, while Canadians use 135 gallons and Europeans a mere 65 to 75 gallons each per day.

"You in the real estate community can be a positive force on reducing the amount of water," she said, acknowledging that while water metering has gotten mixed reviews, it has had a positive impact on consumption. She said up to 60 percent of city water is now metered and in some buildings, use has gone down 35 percent.

Toilet rebate programs are advancing into more boroughs, with The Bronx in full flush and Manhattan next. Owners can receive up to $240 in rebates for old fixtures in residential buildings and $150.for every fixture in commercial properties. When toilets and shower heads are replaced, she added, it can represent a 20 percent to 35 percent savings of the total water charges in a building.

Under the metering moratorium program, if the water bill goes up more than 150 percent of the old bill, if the prior bill is at least $200, the city will split the new metered bill into two payments, with one half due immediately and the other payable in six months.

Additionally, the program to allow multi-family residentially metered buildings with a service line of 1 1/2 inches to be billed at the old flat rate for three years has been extended for another year. "Many were turned down [for this program]," Gelber gloated, "because the meter bill was less than. the flat rate."

Gelber is part of an effort being made by the heads of city agencies, including the Department of Transportation and the Department of Finance, to implement new procedures so owners "don't have to run all over town to pay fines." They are also looking for simpler ways to take care of permits. "The goal is not to put you out of business but to answer summonses more easily," she added.

Nevertheless, said Joseph Strasburg, president of the Rent Stabilization Association of this consolidation: "The real sleeper is the bill to merge the tribunals, so that every person that is licensed in the City of New York has one number."

But if a person needs a new license, and is contesting money in a different agency, they will have to pay it and then continue the appeal to get it back. this will generate a lot with $150 million noted. in the mayor's budget. "He's trying to push through program bills in the course of the budget," explained Strasburg, a former Council official. "You never know what the deal really is. Nothing is wonderful."