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Middletown WPCA reviews bond spending and more than $3 million in delinquent accounts, discusses shutoff policy
Summary
Director Joseph Fizzino updated the board on work funded by the 2022 $19 million bond, said the department is looking at more than $3 million in outstanding accounts, and outlined staff plans to develop a written shutoff/collection policy that would require mayoral and legal review.
Director Joseph Fizzino told the board the packet includes the scope of work and financial figures related to the 2022 $19 million bond, and summarized water-main, neighborhood and pump-station projects completed or underway. He said bond-funded work has proceeded in several neighborhoods and that finance provided a page-by-page summary of expenditures and balances in the meeting packet.
Fizzino also said staff is reviewing collections and that "we're looking at over $3,000,000 that are outstanding pooled in collections," and that the department is exploring options including liens, foreclosure and service shutoffs. "So we're looking at over $3,000,000 that are outstanding pool in collections," he said.
Board members urged caution. Chair Brian Gardner and others noted legal constraints and potential public-health impacts if water service to large apartment complexes were cut off, and several members recommended targeting commercial accounts first. A board member emphasized the need for a robust written policy and said the mayor and city attorney would have to be involved before any routine shutoff program is implemented.
Fizzino said the department will work with legal and the mayor’s office and return with a proposed written policy; no formal action was taken at the meeting.
