Great Barrington — Housatonic resident Denise Forbes, a co-founder of the group Residents for Safe Water, is planning to organize a protest event against Housatonic Water Works.
Forbes spoke about a planned protest during the citizen’s comment period of the Select Board meeting on Monday, August 8. Forbes started the group along with Great Barrington resident Sharon Gregory.
The two started a petition drive earlier this year asking Gov. Charlie Baker for help to transfer the private ownership of the company in the township of Housatonic to Great Barrington. The group sent 1,200 signed petitions to Gov. Baker’s office.
At a July 25 meeting, the Select Board unanimously endorsed part of the petition that asked for an audit of Housatonic Water Works.
On August 1, the company sent a letter to customers that said residents would soon have to pay at least double their current rates to pay for the company’s plans to address ongoing problems with manganese in its system. The two projects which would address manganese and water quality problems would cost a total of $4 million.
“Everyone in Housatonic is really fed up,” Forbes told the Select Board at the Aug. 8 meeting. “One of my main concerns is that Housatonic Water Works is doubling our water fees. Everyone is so sick of brown water. It’s been going on for years and we are not getting reimbursed. Jim Mercer blatantly told everyone they would not reimburse anyone for bottled water. So, why should we have to pay him increased fees for work that he should have been doing for years and years that he’s never done?”
Forbes said that she is planning to organize a protest that would start from Town Hall and go right down to the office of Housatonic Water Works at 80 Maple Ave.
Resident Michelle Loubert also expressed her outrage to the Select Board over the planned increases. “You have a lot of families with Housatonic Water Works who can’t even use the water they have, they can’t bathe their babies, they can’t do their laundry, and they are going to be paying double for it,” Loubert said. “I’m a local yocal and I have been hearing this stuff with Housatonic Water Works for years. This is nothing new, and I think this has to get out there to our neighbors in Great Barrington to what we are going through in Housatonic.”
During his report to the Select Board, Town Manager Mark Pruhenski said, “Over the last couple of weeks, with the average temperatures being above normal, we have been hearing from more and more customers from Housatonic Water Works than we usually do.”
“While it’s helpful to hear from folks so that we know what’s happening in the village, we’ve been directing people to contact DEP [The Department of Environmental Protection] since they have the authority to require site-specific testing,” Pruhenski said. “I’ve seen that a number of residents have done that.”
Pruhenski asked the board to consider having a strategy session in regards to Housatonic Water Works during the next regular meeting on Monday, August 22, which the Select Board agreed to.
The board previously held an executive session on July 11 concerning the company, as stated on the meeting’s agenda, “because an open discussion may have a detrimental effect on the litigation position of the board” and to “consider the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real estate, regarding Housatonic Water Works because an open discussion may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the public body.”
Towards the end of the meeting, Selectman Leigh Davis suggested that the board invite Mercer to a future meeting.
“I have a lot of questions about the rate increase,” Davis said. “I recognize that we’re in executive sessions. But I would love to be able to bring Jim back and ask him specific questions about the fixes that he is suggesting. As long as it doesn’t throw anything into the works in terms of executive sessions, I have a lot of questions. I think it’s only fair for Great Barrington residents and Housatonic residents to hear his answers.”
Members of the Select Board did not respond to Davis’ request. Meanwhile, during his comments throughout the meeting, Select Board Chairman Stephen Bannon seemed focused on criticizing The Berkshire Edge.
While he did not mention The Berkshire Edge by name, Bannon criticized an article that stated that the board would discuss Housatonic Water Works at the August 8 meeting.
When the article about the meeting first came out, it stated that the board would discuss Housatonic Water Works.
However, Town Manager Pruhenski sent an email that stated that the board would not discuss the company during the meeting and, as listed on the agenda, it would only be talked about during his report, even though Selectman Davis spoke about the company during the meeting.
A few minutes after the article went online, at the behest of Pruhenksi, the article was changed to state that Housatonic Water Works was on the agenda as an update during the Town Manager’s report.
“Unfortunately, due to some less than accurate reporting, which we seem to be getting more and more of lately, there’s some thought that we are going to have a Select Board discussion about this,” Bannon said. “The Housatonic Water Works is on every agenda for Mark to give us an update. We’re still meeting in executive session to try to work on the problem, so I apologize that the reporting continues to be inaccurate.”
Bannon was apparently communicating with others either via his computer or via cell phone as the meeting continued on, because towards the end of the meeting, he said a reporter contacted him during the meeting.
“Earlier I talked about some reporting that was less than accurate lately,” Bannon said. “I just want to apologize. Illene thought I was talking about her. I wasn’t. I wasn’t talking about The Eagle either. So you can take it from there.”
Bannon has not contacted The Berkshire Edge concerning coverage of Select Board meetings.
Update: According to an email from Loubert, she is working with Forbes. Loubert wrote that both her and Forbes are holding a meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 16 at 6 p.m. at Berkshire Pulse Studio A at 420 Park St. Loubert added in her email that “Gregory not involved (at this point) in any protest.”
See video of the August 8 Select Board meeting below, courtesy of Managing Editor Shaw Israel Izikson.
