To the editor:
I would like to state upfront that as a resident of Great Barrington, I am for both the proposed town purchase of Housatonic Water Works (HWW) and the Town of Great Barrington consolidation of the Great Barrington Fire District (GBFD) water system with what will be the newly acquired HWW.
When I first moved to Great Barrington from Williamstown in 2018, I had no idea that I would be residing in a community that had a significant population living without access to clean, safe water. In time, I learned about our segregated water systems. The more I learned, the more disturbing the disparity seemed.
In the 2021 local election cycle, a current Great Barrington Selectboard member earned my vote after he told me that his main policy goal was to help Housatonic residents access clean water. Like the other Selectboard members, his heart was and continues to be in the right place, I believe. Yet, so far, the Selectboard’s efforts to remedy the HWW problem have failed.
Housatonic’s problems with HWW are both outrageous and unsustainable.
The good news is that we, as a community, now have a chance to do something about our water system problems.
From a distance, I followed my neighbor Sharon Gregory’s diligent efforts to secure clean water for the village of Housatonic. As I grew to know Sharon, I learned about her impressive background in finance. I could also see that she was a dogged proponent for clean water on behalf of Housatonic and was operating from a true sense of compassion. Yes, compassion—isn’t this an attribute that is too often missing in decisions that affect the public good, like the right to clean water?
So, when my friend Shannon Voyce relayed that Sharon had presented a workable plan for fixing our water problems to the Great Barrington Selectboard at the October 28, 2024, Town Meeting, she also pointed out that Sharon’s excellent ideas were, disturbingly, dismissed by the board. We agreed that it was worth approaching Sharon to ask if she was willing to formalize her ideas and try again with the backing of a small citizens’ group.
Thankfully, Sharon was eager to persist. She outlined her well-thought-out ideas in the two petitions that were circulated in the community over the winter months. Collecting the required number of signatures (more than the required amount, actually) is allowing the Special Town Meeting on April 17 at Monument Mountain High School. We have the chance to make a momentous change to acquire and make our water sources public with town control and oversight.
It is in our community’s best interest to wrest control of the privately held Housatonic Water Works away from their longtime owners, the Mercers. Recent news suggests that the Mercers do want to sell Housatonic Water Works to the town.
The company is not worth as much as the owners would have us think. The weight of their debt must be factored into any purchase, and I would think that a good attorney could make a deal that lessens any debt burden the town might be expected to take on. It is not unrealistic to suggest that the town can negotiate a deal that does not take on a mismanaged company’s debt. That should not be the community’s burden, especially based on HWW’s past mismanagement practices and the lack of concern shown over the years for their customers. The debt could be extinguished. Extinguishing debt is not uncommon in deals that are made to benefit the public good.
And that brings us to the second part of the “Gregory plan”: the acquisition, or, better said, the integration of GBFD into the town as a Town of Great Barrington entity that operates much as it has in recent decades.
I hear pushback against the town’s acquisition of the Great Barrington Fire District. Why do I disagree with the naysayers? Most would agree that the GBFD has been a well-run independent entity. As do I. However, the reasons for town ownership and oversight are strong.
I can quickly think of two arguments in favor of the acquisition.
GBFD spent over $1 million on a state-mandated search for a second source of water in Great Barrington, which led to nothing. In hindsight, the money would have been better spent focusing on accessing and treating what was already known: that Long Pond has an adequate amount of water, and with money instead put toward connection to the Long Pond source, the GBFD would have moved to satisfy the second water source state mandate and could have already initiated a program to access grants and loans to cover the costs of operations and upgrades. If owned by the town, those potentials would be even more attractive (more available grants and lower loan rates).
Also, as a GBFD customer, this past year’s 10 percent tax levy came as an extremely unwelcome surprise. I think that most GBFD customers would agree that this addition to our property tax bill happened without a fair attempt to inform us. The finance committee should have had say over this additional tax. As it stands now, GBFD leadership, the GBFD Prudential Committee, has no obligation to answer to the town. This needs to change.
Prudential Committee Chair Buddy Atwood was quoted as saying his team is not ready to take on a lake water system. Their expertise covers moving river water, and he stated that they are not inclined to take on something that requires new knowledge. I think that means they need to bring in some new blood. They need to bring in people who are excited to learn more about current and new methods for operating and modernizing water systems, even, and especially, factoring in changing conditions due to climate change.
As important, the town will qualify for long-term low-interest (maybe even zero percent interest) loans. As a town, grants would be available that are not currently available to either HWW or GBFD.
I think it is important that we protect our water rights and keep ownership and management close to home. Even though the number of potential buyers of HWW at this point is limited, it is not too far outside the realm of possibility that a corporation like Aquarion would find the purchase of the low-value HWW to their liking. Aquarion is actively fending off two class-action lawsuits accusing the company of knowingly distributing PFAS-tainted water to clients in Connecticut. I hope that our neighbor Sheffield has long-term good luck with Aquarion, but I do not consider Aquarion or any outside corporate entity a safe bet for our water. Current trends suggest that town ownership of public water systems is expanding and for good reason. For additional context, Google what happened to New Garden Township, Pa., when Aqua Water privatized their public water system. The results were disastrous. Water quality plummeted and monetary costs skyrocketed.
Let’s take advantage of the work Sharon Gregory has done (at no cost to the town) as a citizen who cares. Our task is simple. Those who also care can attend the April 17 meeting and, I hope, vote for the dual acquisition plan.
The time is now. It is unlikely we will have this chance again. And there is so much work to do. Let’s get started before our options are no longer available.
Thank you.
Holly Hardman
Great Barrington
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