Great Barrington — After meeting with the Select Board on Monday, November 21, members of the Fire District Prudential Committee have made it clear that the district is not interested in operating or managing the Housatonic Water Works system.
The Fire District serves approximately 1,600 properties, while HWW serves more than 850 properties. The meeting between the Committee and the Select Board was scheduled several weeks ago, with the idea of the district taking over HWW as a potential solution to the various water quality issues that have been plaguing HWW for quite some time.
At the beginning of the November 21 meeting, Committee Chairman Walter Atwood said that the district has been looking at connecting the two water systems for some time. “[The pipes between both systems] are about 900 feet apart,” Atwood said. “As far as the water goes, we both have the same water and the same quality.”
Atwood said that the water the district uses comes out of Green River, which consists of water that flows from Long Pond and is the same water HWW uses. “We have no interest in running HWW,” Atwood said. “We don’t know [their system]. We are very familiar with our system and putting us both together is not going to put us in a really good position.”
Atwood said that there would be no advantage to the Fire District if it took over HWW. “We would have to double our employees, and we already have a debt load that we’re carrying,” Atwood said. “We would have to carry a new debt load. We would end up being in the same position as the HWW and we would be getting the same grief that they are getting. And we would [not] be able to fix problems for five to seven years, or maybe longer because we haven’t got the ability to borrow as much money as HWW.”
Atwood mentioned that the district will soon be conducting pipe replacement work. “I’m assuming that [HWW] has a lot of work that has to be done on their pipes,” he said. “Any time we do anything, we pay [contractors] prevailing wage. [HWW] is luckier because [it is] an independent business and [it] doesn’t have to go through prevailing wage. For us, just the cost of buying the pipe alone has gone from $300,000 to $500,000, and we have to wait 42 weeks to get it. We don’t have the expertise to do what is needed to do with HWW because we don’t have the engineers to look at and examine [the system].”
“I always looked at the Fire District with envy and jealousy because you state that it’s the same water, but I’m pretty sure the water that comes out of everybody’s pipes in Great Barrington is a lot different [in] color than [HWW’s system],” Select Board member Eric Gabriel told Atwood. “The statement that you have no interest in [HWW] is upsetting because I was hoping that we could find some interest in you guys. You just told me that [the water department] order a half million dollars worth of pipe. That’s awesome and I’m extremely jealous of that. I got a pipe in front of my house and [it] broke four times in two years.”
Select Board Vice Chairman Leigh Davis said she wanted to clear up misconceptions residents in the community may have about the two water systems. “There have been some people saying that ‘all we have to do is connect the two [systems] and the good water will mix with the bad water, and we’ll be fine,” Davis told Atwood. “I just want you to clarify the rumor, explain what it would look like [connecting the systems] and what would happen to the water.”
Atwood said that Committee representatives have spoken to HWW representatives and that it plans to eventually connect both systems, but he did not give a timetable for a connection project. “Before we connect them, we’re most likely going to make another step in our system,” Atwood said. “We’re going to change the method in the way we treat the water. Tentatively now we’re waiting for an engineering report. We’re using chemicals right now [to treat the water], but we’re going to go to UV [water treatment].”
Atwood did not say what chemicals the Fire District currently uses to treat its water supply. “If we go to UV [water treatment], we’re going to be forced to treat the water coming from HWW,” Atwood said.
When asked if connecting both systems would solve problems involving water pressure from HWW’s fire hydrants, Atwood said that the Fire District would have to reduce its water pressure from its pipes to directly connect to HWW pipes. “There has to be a balance between us,” he said. “We’re running a lot more pressure in our system than they have in their system.”
On November 17, it was announced that the town would receive $100,000 from the state to provide financial relief to HWW customers. At the Nov. 21 meeting, Select Board Chairman Stephen Bannon said that the town is waiting for the money to be delivered from the state before it makes any decisions on what to do with the funds.
Chairman Bannon added that the town has hired a firm to appraise HWW’s system. “We are working in executive session, and we’re not going to discuss negotiations in public,” Bannon said.
