At tonight’s Crossville city council work session, Mayor RJ Crawford called the work session to order, noting all council members were present except Councilman Mike Turner, who was out sick.

During public comment, Crossville resident Gina Knight addressed the council to dispute a $5,300+ water bill from March 2025 for the Jan 15–Feb 18 billing period, which claimed her property used 369,000 gallons — roughly enough to fill an Olympic pool. She argued there was no flooding, standing water, or ice that would indicate a leak of that size.

Knight explained the issue began in October 2024 when contractors installed new water/sewer lines, leaving their water meter exposed and unsupported in a 4-foot ditch through February. She described multiple water service disruptions in January and February 2025. Contractors initially blamed frozen pipes, but two plumbers verified the internal pipes weren’t frozen.

On Jan 17, a city inspector was surprised by how the meter had been wrapped by contractors. Water service returned Jan 20 with no evidence of broken or frozen pipes. On Feb 13 service was cut again, with a TDOT contractor saying the meter was shut off for repairs. Knight said she doesn’t know if construction damaged the meter or if the unsupported meter caused the service line to fail, but photos show it was unsupported, repaired multiple times, and later propped up with rocks.

She noted the city denied a one-time forgiveness because she couldn’t explain the leak, yet the meter was in an active construction zone outside her control. She also disputed the city’s claim that a spigot was left open, saying it would have to run 21 straight days at 8-10 gallons/minute to hit 369,000 gallons, and they didn’t even have uninterrupted service for 21 days.

Knight said they’ve been good-paying customers with no late payments, and the situation caused stress, business disruption, and hardship. She asked the city to extend forgiveness or remove the excessive charge, citing too many unanswered questions and no evidence they used that much water.

After her three minutes, the mayor thanked her and said he’d received her email and had spoken with the city manager. When Knight said their water had been off since February and asked for a timeline, the mayor committed to speaking with the city manager tomorrow and getting her an answer by tomorrow evening.