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Town manager: water-rate review underway after supplier hikes; board to consider semiannual billing and backflow testing changes
Summary
Town staff contracted a consultant to review water usage charges, meter fees and backflow testing; increases by the wholesale supplier prompted the review and a public hearing is planned.
Greg, the town manager, told the Plaistow Board of Selectmen on May 5 that the town has contracted Underwood to review the water system’s fees, consumption charges and related service charges after the town’s wholesale supplier raised rates.
The review will examine consumption charges, meter and turn-on/off fees, and backflow testing compliance, and it will produce recommendations the board can consider this month and publicly hear in June.
“We buy our water basically from Hampstead area water,” Greg said. “We have seen at least 2 increases in what we’re paying them, but we haven’t raised our rates.” He said the consultant will go line-by-line through fees such as turn-ons and meter hookups where current town charges “are barely covering the costs that we have to pay.”
Greg proposed changing the town’s fire-suppression billing to a semiannual schedule similar to property-tax billing — a June/November billing split — and said he wants Hampstead Area Water to take over the town’s commercial backflow testing so the town can report 100% of required annual tests rather than rely on third-party vendors to schedule and submit results.
Greg said he had hoped to bring a full recommendation for the May 5 meeting but instead plans to discuss the consultant’s proposals at the board’s next meeting and to schedule a public hearing in June for any fee changes and an updated rate schedule. He also provided an update on the Wilder Drive water project, saying easements and state contract work are still being finalized.
