WPCA forwards intermunicipal water-service agreement with Middlefield to finance committee and common council

The Middletown Water Pollution Control Authority voted March 3 to forward a revised intermunicipal agreement (IMA) to the finance and government operations committee and then to the common council for final approval.

Staff summarized the draft resolution, saying Middletown would supply public water to properties in Middlefield (including parcels on Jacksonville Road, Higbee Road, Meriden Road and Hubbard Street) and that the contract language relied on Connecticut General Statute §7-339a to authorize an intermunicipal agreement. Staff said required infrastructure to serve the properties would be fully funded by private entities seeking to connect, and that the new customers would be billed at Middletown rates after the connection is accepted.

The draft resolution states the new properties’ total water demand would be less than 50,000 gallons per day and says that a sale-of-excess-water permit and a consumptive-diversion permit were not required, as presented to the authority. Staff noted that no capital expenditures from Middletown were necessary to install the water main in the parcels identified in the agreement; once inspected and accepted, the installed main would become city property to maintain.

Commissioners pressed staff to show the expected financial impact more clearly and to record that any new revenue would be credited to the water fund rather than the general fund. One commissioner said the IMA should include an estimate of expected annual revenue based on the 50,000-gallons-per-day cap so the finance committee and common council could see potential fiscal effects.

The authority approved forwarding the March 3, 2026 revision of the IMA to finance and the common council by voice vote. The IMA will return to the council for final approval; the authority did not adopt the IMA itself at the meeting.