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Date: 9/21/2021
HATFIELD – During the Hatfield Select Board’s Sept. 14 meeting, the board received an update from Fire Chief Bob Flaherty about a Firefighters Assistance Grant and discussed water and sewer rate changes with Department of Public Works Director Philip Genovese.
As one of the meeting’s first orders of business, Flaherty announced the department received a Firefighters Assistance Grant award to help upgrade the department’s technology.
Flaherty said the funds will allow the department to keep more in contact with Mutual Aid partners and the Police Department.
“We did get awarded $161,000 that will be used to buy communications equipment for the Fire Department. Because our equipment is aging, the radio I wear every day is about 22 years old, the normal life expectancy is about 12 to 15. This is going to help upgrade the entire department, give us multiple bandwidths to talk to our Mutual Aid partners and to be able to talk to our cops,” he said.
Because of the grant, Flaherty said the department will be returning some of the money appropriated at the Annual Town Meeting back to the town. He added the new equipment should be up and running in about 12 weeks.
After having an engineering firm study the town’s water and sewer rates and receiving an initial report in January, Town Administrator Michelle Michonski refreshed the board and residents by saying that report recommended the town increase the water rate by 5 percent and the sewer rate by 25 percent.
“They did an analysis and the report determined we are not covering our expenditures, if you are not covering your operational expenses, it puts us in a position where we would not qualify for grants. They recommended a 5 percent increase for water and a 25 percent for sewer, and we needed to make sure we are covering our operational costs, which water and sewer were running into deficits,” she said.
By raising the rates, board member Brian Moriarty said the town is attempting to make the Water and Sewer Departments self-sufficient and to continue to be able to receive United States Department of Agriculture grants for the Water and Sewer Departments.
“Hatfield has been underfunding the operations for water and sewer for years, so we are trying to accomplish two things, we are trying to have those become somewhat self-sufficient and we need to meet certain guidelines for grants that may be available,” he said.
Board member Edmund Jaworksi said the town was in a tough situation by letting the rates stay the same or by increasing them.
“It is one of those things where you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t because if you do not jack up a little bit each time to cover your costs, then in a couple years you have to do a big increase, which we had to do last time,” he said.
While Michonski said the water rate would increase by 49 cents per 100 cubic feet and the sewer rate would increase by 93 cents per 100 cubic feet, board chair Diana Szynal said the board would have the exact numbers for how it would affect residents by the time of a public hearing to increase the rates.
“When we get to the hearing point, we would like some information for the average user so the townspeople can know what we are talking about because for most people that rate per cubic foot means nothing for them,” she said.
The board will further discuss an increase to the water and sewer rates during a public hearing on Sept. 28.
The Hatfield Select Board next meets on Sept. 28 and will discuss how to spend money the town received as part of the American Rescue Plan Act with the Finance Committee.