West Stockbridge — As southern Berkshire residents struggle to eye clean drinking water flowing from their taps, a July 24 plan by utility company Housatonic Water Works (HWW) has hit another snag.
According to HWW, the issue stems from excessive manganese levels in its Long Pond supply source. Last year, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved the company’s plan to implement five phases of rate hikes as well as provide a manganese filtration system, new water storage tank, main replacement, and an interconnection with the Great Barrington Fire District, and a timetable for the action began. Pursuant to the agreement, HWW customer rates would increase by over 90 percent over a five-year span.
An announcement by HWW in January cited project delays, and the three towns involved in the rate case—Great Barrington, Stockbridge, and West Stockbridge—took legal action seeking enforcement of the settlement agreement, including a rollback of the heightened rates and an investigation of the company so residents could be ensured they would receive safe and affordable drinking water.
The HWW agreement requires approval of all three towns who intervened in the rate case prior to starting each phase.
Although the West Stockbridge Select Board joined the other two relevant towns by approving the interconnection project on January 21, the dais unanimously voted down the final two phases of the project during its April 28 meeting. Phases Four and Five that were denied by the group include the installation of a water storage tank on High Street related to water pressure and the replacement of water mains, along with year-over-year rate increases of 13.47 percent and 12.51 percent, respectively.
According to Select Board Chair Andrew Potter, the board discussed the matter during its April 9 executive session and the action stifles the agreement from continuing. “If one of the towns votes to not approve Phase Four or Five of that agreement, then the agreement no longer exists and it goes back to, basically, square one,” he said. “The rate increases do not go into effect as well.”
On April 17, Great Barrington voters rejected a proposal that would have seen the town purchase the troubled utility.
