NORTHFIELD — The East Northfield Water Company’s ongoing financial issues will be the subject of a public forum on Tuesday.
The forum, which will start at 6:30 p.m. at Northfield Town Hall, will give residents the chance to ask questions about the situation, East Northfield Water Company President John Alden said previously.
Customers were notified in May that the company had applied for a 150 percent rate increase to offset losses incurred since 2012, when current rates went into effect. Alden said later that the company has operated at a loss in almost every year since Northfield Mount Hermon School left the Northfield campus, consolidating to its Gill location in 2005. The total deficit is now about $900,000, he said.
The company may also be required to install a filtration system, which would likely push rates even higher. In water quality tests of the company’s Grandin Reservoir last summer, the water was below state standards for the first time since 1991. The issue is under review by the Department of Environmental Protection, and could result in a requirement to filter the water. Costs for the machinery would be at least $4 million to $5 million, Alden said.
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 261.