Tiverton resolution asking state to study merger of two water districts draws sharp public criticism

The Tiverton Town Council on March 24 adopted a resolution asking the town elegation to the Rhode Island General Assembly to pursue legislation to merge the town nd water districts.

The measure prompted multiple public commenters to urge the council to delay. Paul LaRue, general manager of the North Tiverton Fire District (NTFD), told the council the resolution directs the delegation to pursue "all appropriate legislative action necessary for a merger of the two water districts," and said the move came without the technical analyses and data NTFD and others had requested.

"The resolution that the town passed was not to study anything. It's resolved that the Tiverton delegation to the Rhode Island General Assembly take all appropriate legislative action necessary for a merger of the two water districts," LaRue said. He told the council he had submitted a cost estimate showing $873,866 in one-time transition costs to align metering, accounting and reporting systems and said the districts would bill the town for those costs.

Multiple speakers at the public-comment portion said they had not been consulted or had not seen supporting hydraulic or financial studies. Sanford Mantell asked whether the proposed merger would create a quasi-public entity or a town department; councilors and staff said the legislative path being requested is at the state level because the districts were created by the General Assembly. "Whether it goes forward, how they go forward, that's really going to be up to [the General Assembly]," a council speaker said.

Several speakers said their concern is less about a formal legal structure than about near-term operational and infrastructure issues in North Tiverton. Paul LaRue and others described differences in metering, accounting systems and reporting formats; LaRue said those differences would require regeneration of state reports and other administrative work if districts were combined.

Jeff LaChapelle, speaking later during public comment, asked the council to rescind the resolution and said the measure "was passed without sufficient consultation or information posing risks to our town's infrastructure and future." He said concerns raised by the NTFD general manager and others were not addressed prior to the council vote and urged councilors to require the council liaisons to engage with both water departments and gather needed data.

Councilors and staff said the council's action was meant to send the matter to the General Assembly to allow state staff and legislators to evaluate the technical, financial and operational issues. The council and staff framed the resolution as authorizing the delegation to request study and legislative work, not as an immediate operational consolidation ordered by the town.

The council president and other councilors said any merger would require further review, and that the state, not the council, has the statutory authority to effect a merger of entities that were created by the General Assembly. Several councilors also said they had proposed or supported the resolution to obtain formal study and hydraulic analysis from the state rather than to enact immediate changes locally.

The town scheduled a separate meeting between NTFD representatives, Stonebridge representatives and town liaisons to review concerns and share information.

Why it matters: Tiverton has two water districts with differing systems and reporting processes. Residents and local managers warned that an approach that moves first to legislation without a full local technical and financial analysis risks shifting costs and unresolved operational differences to ratepayers and local entities.

What happens next: Councilors said the town delegation will carry the resolution to the General Assembly. Town staff and council liaisons planned follow-up meetings with district managers and with stakeholders to collect data the council said it lacked at the time of the vote.