Administrative Fee, Private Wells Hot Topics at Hearing

Wayland’s Board of Public Works wants to offer plenty of opportunity for residents to have their say during the process of setting upcoming water rates.

On Monday, the board held the first of what it expects to be several water rate hearings, and while the crowd wasn’t extensive, it was vocal.

The new water rates go into effect in September and the general feeling of those that spoke up at Monday’s hearing was dissatisfaction with the high price of water in Wayland.

Jim Bodkin said that the current rates do not encourage people to conserve water since even the most conservative user still pays administrative fees equaling $112 annually.

Bodkin advocated for that fee to be rolled into the usage rates so that high-end users would pay a greater percentage of the administrative costs. He said that structure would better encourage conservation.

“Personally, I think it’s a crime to use potable water to water your lawns,” Bodkin said.

Board of Public Works member Mike Lowery agreed that the administrative fee does comprise a large part of Bodkin’s water bill, but also pointed out that usage isn’t directly proportional to administrative costs.

“There are certain fixed administrative costs that the system has just to be connected to it,” Lowery said. “It may be that the board should consider how high its administrative fee should be and how much should be put in.”

Michael Wegerbauer, another board member, acknowledged that Wayland’s water infrastructure is “very expensive right now” due in part to debt incurred to build a water treatment plant.

Board members expressed a concern that the more cost they push to high-end water users, the more likely those users are to leave Wayland’s water system and switch to private wells, which could have serious impact on the financial stability of the Water Department.

Attendees at the hearing encouraged the board to look into legal means of regulating private wells, which could help offset the cost of some users going that route. Anette Lewis pointed out that even private wells reduce the public aquifer and therefore could be subject to public regulation.

If controlling private wells isn’t the answer, perhaps creating a set, not tiered, rate for water use is, Don Bustin recommended.

Department of Public Works Director Don Ouellette said the Department of Environmental Protection “strongly encourages” tiered water rates, but does allow for a flat rate to be charged.

“We should be paying a certain amount per 100 cubic feet. Period,” one audience member said. “The idea is you want to discourage high use, so the fee should be per 100 cubic feet and the administrative fee should be embedded in it.”

Last year was the first year the Board of Public Works set Wayland’s water rates. Before doing so, the board engaged the Abraham’s Group to conduct a study of the water rates and make recommendations as to the rate structure going forward.

“We’re going to continue these hearings,” Wegerbauer said. “We had at least three last year, and I expect we’ll have at least three this year.”

The next water rate hearing will take place Monday, May 7. The agenda indicates the hearing will begin at 7:30 p.m.