DATE: Friday, November 28, 1997             TAG: 9711280087

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TONI GUAGENTI, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   45 lines

ALL-IN-ONE BILL PLAN FOR BEACH UTILITIES PUT OFF UNTIL JANUARY RESIDENTS WILL GET A SINGLE STATEMENT FOR STORMWATER, SEWER AND WATER SERVICE.

Residents who have been looking for the all-in-one utility bill they were promised this summer have a little bit longer to wait.

The debut of the Hampton Roads Utility Billing Service - combining fees for city water, stormwater management and sewer services - has been postponed until at least January while the city and the Hampton Roads Sanitation District iron out the details of the agreement.

City and HRSD officials wouldn't elaborate on the delay.

The billing service is a combined effort between the city's Department of Public Utilities, the Department of Public Works and HRSD. Residents now receive three separate bills for water, sewer and stormwater charges.

``As soon as we resolve a couple of minor points, we'll be ready to move into a countdown to production,'' said Joe Martin, Virginia Beach's acting customer services administrator with public utilities. ``Both sides are still very much . . . in favor of getting the project moving, and we know we're doing the right thing for our customers.''

Public Utilities has 117,000 accounts, Public Works about 125,000, and HRSD from 100,000 to 120,000.

Mary Durkin, HRSD's chief of customer information services, emphasized how convenient the new billing system will be for customers.

People will be able to pay their bills at 11 Hampton Roads Utility Billing Service locations on the Peninsula and in South Hampton Roads instead of just at city treasurers' offices, she said.

HRSD currently provides the same service in Norfolk, Smithfield and James City.

The bills will be on two-month cycles, which means six bills a year instead of as many as 16.

Another change residents may have noticed recently is the return envelope mailed with water bills.

The city has for several years used a special envelope that can be used twice - first to mail the bill to residents and then to send it back to the city with their payment enclosed.

Martin said the city went to two envelopes after it had problems getting the all-in-one envelopes delivered.

The two cost about the same, he said.

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