Town Council Adopts Ordinance For New Water Authority

Town councilors were tempted to give themselves a standing ovation Wednesday night after they unanimously approved an ordinance creating an independent Water Pollution and Control Authority for the town.

The town council has been acting as the WPCA for approximately two years and councilor John Marshall compared the workload to running two businesses at the same time.

Bill Saums, chairman of the current WPCA, agreed.

“It’s a lot of work, it’s a lot of fun, I love it but it’s a matter of time,” he said.

Marshall said the lion’s share of work comes from reconciling the budget and that the expenses and revenue have never matched up. He said the town council dissolved the previous WPCA approximately two years ago due to questions over the budget.

Saums said the billing and revenue system is complex and it is complicated by the fact that the water and sewer departments did not report to the old WPCA. Sorting out the departments’ expenses and revenues has been a challenge.

For instance, the town council approved a water budget of $898,456, which is six percent less than the current fiscal year’s water budget but sixteen percent higher than revenues, which may result in increased water rates.

Collections on past due accounts has also been a focus of the current WPCA. Finance committee chairman Michael France said they have collected approximately two-thirds of the outstanding balance in the past year and approximately $52,000 remains outstanding.

Saums said the new WPCA will continue to focus on financial reporting and how expenses and revenues are recorded.

“We know what our totals are but we've been working toward getting better accounting,” he said.

The current WPCA has approximately 1,200 customers and creating an independent WPCA divests the town council of the responsibility of managing their accounts.

“It will be good to be relieved of all the additional duties,” said Sean Sullivan, chairman of the town council. “It deserves our full attention to take care of town business.”

According to the adopted ordinance, the WPCA will be comprised of five volunteer members and three alternates who will oversee water and sewer operations for three-year terms. The WPCA will set policy and oversee the development, distribution, planning, and recommend financing for community water and sewer supply.

The new WPCA will gain responsibility over the , collecting past due accounts and attending to unresolved complaints and special requests by customers.

Saums will remain the WPCA liaison to the town council and said, “I’m happy to turn it over, I’m excited about the people who have expressed interest.”