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Finance committee backs intermunicipal wastewater agreement with Easton; Easton to pay about $900,000 mitigation fee
Summary
The committee recommended favorably an intermunicipal agreement to accept wastewater flow from a defined area in Easton—s Eastern Industrial Park; Easton would pay a one-time mitigation fee of roughly $900,000 and pay ongoing share-based treatment costs.
The Brockton Finance Committee on Feb. 3 recommended favorably an intermunicipal agreement (IMA) allowing a defined area in Easton—s Eastern Industrial Park to send wastewater to Brockton for treatment.
Mayor Robert F. Sullivan urged support, saying the deal would bring “about 900,000, a little under a million dollars” to Brockton while covering a limited area in Easton. DPW Commissioner Patrick Hill described the offsetting engineering rationale: the mitigation model charges a fee tied to a 4-to-1 removal ratio of inflow and infiltration. Commissioner Hill explained that for every 80,000 gallons Easton sends to Brockton, the city will remove roughly 320,000 gallons from the collection system, creating a net-zero effect on capacity. “In essence, the 80,000 gallons that they'll be sending us, would be Quick math, 240,” Hill said during the presentation (transcript excerpt).
City Solicitor Megan Bridges described the IMA as a legal contract that sets obligations for both parties and said the proposed mitigation payment would be used for lining projects to remove inflow and infiltration in Brockton's system. Bridges told the committee the agreement uses a “common user rate” model to capture capital and operating costs, and she said Easton would also pay ongoing charges based on its percentage of flow.
Town Administrator Connor Reed of Easton attended to explain Easton—s position and told the committee Easton had invested in its water system and focused on sewer needs; the mitigation payment was Easton—s way to obtain sewer capacity without purchasing Brockton water. Several councilors asked whether the mitigation fee was a one-time payment; Commissioner Hill and the mayor confirmed it is a one-time fee based on the 4:1 ratio and a $3-per-gallon figure used in the mitigation calculation.
Councilor Linda Castro (Ward 4) sent a written statement read into the record supporting the agreement and noting the city—s AWRF (Ashland? — stated as AWRF in the record) system capacity numbers; she said the plant's capacity is 18,000,000 gallons per day and that current users consume about 16.8 million.
After discussion, the committee voted to recommend favorably; the matter will go to the full council for final action.
