TORRINGTON – Failing to reach an agreement on a refund of what the West Highway Water and Sewer District claims are excessive service charges by the city of Torrington, the company has filed a lawsuit in District Court. The action was taken Dec. 6, several years after the city began charging what the plaintiffs believe are excess amounts for sewer and water services.
Plaintiff attorney Reba D. Epler, of Land Ethic & Community Law based in Hillsdale, said the situation has been brewing since the city continued to levy the alleged excess charges even after flow meters were installed to determine exact sewer readings, rather than estimates as had been the previous practice since service began in the early 1960s.
The six points in the introductory statement claim the city of Torrington operates the sanitary sewer treatment plant as a public utility that serves the West Highway Water & Sewer District, and sets the sewer rates.
It continues that in 2013-14, the District updated its sewer system and installed flow meters to provide accurate readings to the city. Prior to that time, the amount of sewage was only estimated, and that figure supplied the basis for the charges.  The suit claims that after the flow meters were installed, the amount of sewage was significantly less than what the District was being charged for.
At that time, West Highway requested a change in the accounting process, but the city refused to make any changes on how the District was being billed, resulting in the claims of excessive charges for the service.
The suit claims the city overcharged the District for services between May 2013 through January 2017. The District, in its turn, billed the city for $95,662.15, to recover the overpayment plus 10 percent interest and attorney fees. According to court documents, from May 2013 to January 2017, the city overcharged the district $58,512.96 for sewer services.

In the court filing, the plaintiffs claim to have exhausted all available administrative and procedural remedies, thus the lawsuit.
West Highway has called for a six-member jury to hear its complaints, which include:
Breach of contract in four instances; Unjust enrichment of $95,662.15; Breach of the implied obligation of good faith and fair dealing, in which it failed to negotiate a good faith settlement of the overcharges; Bad Faith, in which West Highway claims the city has financially damaged the District and by delaying changes to billing methods, the city intentionally continued collecting approximately $1,997.44 each month in overcharges. Count Eight claims the city willfully intended to cause delay, because it was receiving the overcharge, and intended to keep its billing practices as long as possible so that it could receive the monthly overpayments.
The lawsuit claims unfair and monopolistic business practices are being used by the city of Torrington. It also claims the city threatened to stop accepting the district’s sewage and increase rates if billings are based on actual flow rates.
The suit claims the city is an unregulated monopoly, not subject to any of the usual oversights that utility monopolies are subject to, such as the Public Service
Commission.
The District document cites several sources for its claim that the city has denied the District equal protection of the laws as provided in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as well as in the Wyoming
Constitution.
To settle the dispute, the District demands a six-member jury on all claims in the lawsuit.
Torrington City Attorney Jim Eddington declined to comment on the suit, saying Tuesday the city had been served on Monday and he hadn’t read the documents.