Pittsfield Councilors Ask for Citywide Water Meter Plan

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — City officials would like to see all of Pittsfield on metered water.  

On Monday, the Public Works and Utilities subcommittee mulled how to best approach the endeavor.  This was in response to a petition from Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren and Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey requesting a plan to offer qualifying homeowners water meters at little or no cost to them.

Councilor at Large Karen Kalinowsky has also advocated for water meters to lower costs for seniors on a fixed income. With this system, residents are charged on the volume of municipal water used in the household.

The panel will reconvene in about a month with further demographic information and possible paths forward so that they can create a citywide plan to send to the full council.

Kavey said they are taking "a step in the right direction" and Commissioner of Public Services and Utilities Ricardo Morales voiced support for the effort.

"We are one of the largest communities, if not the largest community in Massachusetts that is not fully metered," Morales said.

With about $430,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds, the city is offering a limited meter program to 352 residents who receive a personal tax exemption. Some meters have already been acquired and the city has begun the bidding process for contractors.

Councilors see this as a starting point but would like an extended water meter program. Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Maffuccio specified that he would also like to see it available to low to moderate-income families.

"There is going to be phases to this I think," Ward 3 Councilor Kevin Sherman said. "I think we're going to have some test and learn situations. It appears that the first attempt that was based on something already in place."



He said several factors need to be taken into consideration including the qualifying factors outside of tax assessment such as age or income, what the process will look like, and what the cost will be.

A water meter would run a person about $900 to $1,200 to purchase and have installed.

"We want to be equitable with who is going to be eligible for this and make sure that everybody's taken care of, but also we do it responsibly," Sherman said.

Morales explained that the city is now approved to commence the Integrated Water Resources Management plan that includes a study of the metering system.

"It is essentially looking at our utilities holistically," he explained. "Not just our sewer but also our water."

He later explained that this would provide a system that benefits people who consume less, for better or for worse.

Warren pointed out that he is not worried about the larger households who have a swimming pool and water their lawns to look like country club grass paying their fair share.

The subcommittee also sent a petition from Warren and Kavey requesting to determine if water meters will be required for all new residential construction or service.


Tags: drinking water,   

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Letter: Is the Select Board Listening to Dalton Voters?

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

A reasonable expectation by the people of a community is that their Select Board rises above personal preference and represents the collective interests of the community. On Tuesday night [Nov. 12], what occurred is reason for concern that might not be true in Dalton.

This all began when a Select Board member submitted his resignation effective Oct. 1 to the Town Clerk. Wishing to fill the vacated Select Board seat, in good faith I followed the state law, prepared a petition, and collected the required 200-plus signatures of which the Town Clerk certified 223. The Town Manager, who already had a copy of the Select Board member's resignation, was notified of the certified petitions the following day. All required steps had been completed.

Or had they? At the Oct. 9 Select Board meeting when Board members discussed the submitted petition, there was no mention about how they were informed of the petition or that they had not seen the resignation letter. Then a month later at the Nov. 12 Select Board meeting we learn that providing the resignation letter and certified petitions to the Town Manager was insufficient. However, by informing the Town Manager back in October the Select Board had been informed. Thus, the contentions raised at the Nov. 12 meeting by John Boyle seem like a thinly veiled attempt to delay a decision until the end of January deadline to have a special election has passed.

If this is happening with the Special Election, can we realistically hope that the present Board will listen to the call by residents to halt the rapid increases in spending and our taxes that have been occurring the last few years and pass a level-funded budget for next year, or to not harness the taxpayers in town with the majority of the cost for a new police station? I am sure these issues are of concern to many in town. However, to make a change many people need to speak up.

Please reach out to a Select Board member and let them know you are concerned and want the Special Election issue addressed and finalized at their Nov. 25 meeting.

Robert E.W. Collins
Dalton, Mass.

 

 

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