NORTHFIELD — The Selectboard is recommending that residents meet to discuss the potential formation of a water district and members have voiced their support to consider the issue at Annual Town Meeting in May.
According to a presentation given by Town Administrator Andrea Llamas last week, the Selectboard’s vote does not commit the town “to anything other than further work on the project as there are additional steps before the transition of operations to a new water district.” She suggested a large-scale public discussion should take place closer to Town Meeting in May “so that it’s fresh” in people’s minds.
Northfield currently has a water district that serves southern Northfield, whereas the East Northfield Water Co. serves the northern part of town. This for-profit company would be the entity to undergo the transition into a nonprofit water district.
“I’m hopefully optimistic,” East Northfield Water Co. President Donald Glascoff said Tuesday. “I think the transition, if it were to occur, would be great for the town and the company.”
The private corporation, owned by Northfield Mount Hermon School, “ran at a loss … for many years” after the Northfield campus consolidated to Gill in 2005, as explained by Llamas. The organization also “reported a higher than acceptable level of coliform (bacteria) in the water of Grandin Reservoir” in 2018, prompting the state Department of Environmental Protection to require the East Northfield Water Co. to fix the issue or find an alternative water source.
“Months don’t go by when people aren’t talking about our conditions here and our reservoir,” Selectboard member Mary Bowen commented. “It’s antique.”
Glascoff added that his company lacks the finances to carry out necessary procedures, such as drill new wells, or install essential pieces of equipment, such as an up-to-date filtration system.
“The water district idea solves all those problems,” Glascoff said.
Llamas explained that, as a private company, the East Northfield Water Co. has “extremely limited access to low-cost grants and loans,” an issue the town believes might be resolved by switching to a water district with greater access to government funding. Looking to help with the transition and securing funding is Resources for Communities and People (RCAP) Solutions, a nonprofit group of Worcester-based consultants who don’t charge for their services.
Llamas said the East Northfield Water Co. is cognizant of its financial shortcomings as the town faces water quality concerns.
“The water company has done a lot of capital analysis,” she said. “They’ve done a lot of self-reflection.”
She listed a series of potential benefits that would come from adopting a water district model during her presentation. One such improvement would be the elimination of the expensive water rate application process that has cost the town around $140,000 in recent years. This, Glascoff explained, is because laws and requirements for increasing rates differ between a for-profit company and a nonprofit district. There is also the potential to save money through deals and shared services between the town and the sewer district. Plus, a water district wouldn’t need to pay state taxes as a nonprofit.
“I think this is a great step that Northfield has been facing for a while,” RCAP Solutions Environmental Technician Andrew Evans, himself a Northfield native, said at last week’s Selectboard meeting.
Llamas’ presentation also cited “several recent developments (that) make the transition to a water district feasible.” She observed how the East Northfield Water Co. has been generating higher revenue due to rate increases implemented in June 2021, as well as the growth of its customer base. Specifically, Llamas observed, Thomas Aquinas College, which accounts for 50% of the water company’s revenue, is “large and growing,” and “The Moody Center, another potentially large water customer, is also expanding and has additional plans for growth.”
A committee — consisting of Llamas, Evans, Glascoff, RCAP Solutions Program Resource Specialist Jim Starbard, Thomas Aquinas College Chief Financial Officer Dennis McCarthy and experienced water operation administrator Thomas Baxter — is drafting a proposed “Act to Establish an East Northfield Water District,” which would spell out the creation of a commission of customers and representatives from Northfield to supervise the employees of a new water district.
“If there is a board that’s made here, we can train them for what they’re responsible for,” Evans added in support. “They’re not on an island.”
Costs of forming the district, presented as if the proposed district had began operation Jan. 1, 2022, include an estimated $75,000 for a new superintendent and various legal costs associated with making the transition. Additional staffing and infrastructure changes would be dictated by newly appointed water commissioners, Glascoff said.
Other steps necessary to create the nonprofit water district include obtaining Selectboard support to facilitate discussion among residents, presentation of relevant information during a public forum, placement of a Town Meeting article for approval, obtaining support from state agencies and legislators, and applying for government funding.
Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-772-0261, ext. 261 or jmendoza@recorder.com.