By Carol Britton Meyer
The Weir River Water System’s proposed rate increase and capital debt service assessment, which will increase customers’ bills by about 8% per year, was met with no resistance at last week’s public hearing.
The January 28 hearing centering around the company’s proposed 3% rate increase and a $65 a year capital debt service assessment for single-family residential customers starting July 1 included the reasons behind the proposed increase as well as a comprehensive update about the system. WRWS serves Hingham, Hull, and part of Cohasset.
The proposed rate increase would enable WRWS to continue with needed improvements, upgrades, and operation and maintenance of the system.
The assessment – which will be in effect for the next 30 years – will fund the new one-million-gallon water storage tank on Strawberry Hill in Hull, booster station in Hingham, and rehabilitation of the existing Turkey Hill tank in Hingham. The water storage tank timeframe has been extended due to the permitting process, WRWS Managing Director/Superintendent Russell Tierney said, with expected completion in spring 2028.
“Multi-residential, industrial, commercial and municipal government customers will also contribute to the capital debt service,” Tierney said.
The presentation also covered key initiatives, financial stability, water quality, water conservation, planned projects, among others.
Click here for the full presentation from the public hearing
Wednesday’s session was a joint meeting of the WRWS water commissioners – comprised of the Hingham select board – the Hingham Advisory Committee, and the WRWS Citizens Advisory Board (CAB).
The commissioners will take a vote on whether to approve the increase at a later date. The CAB reviewed and is recommending the rate change, Chair David Anderson said.
“We anticipate that the average water bill would increase by approximately 8% [between the rate increase and the assessment],” Tierney said.
According to Tierney’s presentation, a sample residential customer using 3,600 cubic feet of water (or just under 27,000 gallons) per quarter now pays $340.81 per quarter, or $1,363.24 per year. Under the rate schedule taking effect July 1, which includes the capital fee, that same usage will cost $367.28 per quarter, or $1,469.12 per year.
No objections to rate increase voiced
There was minimal attendance by citizens served by the water company and no questions about the proposed increase and assessment, nor concerns or objections raised during the in-person meeting at Hingham Town Hall, which offered a Zoom option.
However, a few Hull residents made comments about other water-related issues.
C. Anne Murray said she wished the Town of Hull had more of a say other than having two representatives on the WRWS Citizens Advisory Board, since about a third of the water is used in town.
David Irwin suggested that the possibility of desalinization – which was the subject of a 2001 Hull desalinization committee – be reconsidered. Water Commissioner William Ramsey asked Irwin to provide a copy of the committee’s report to Tierney.
“I appreciate [even more] after seeing [the information presented tonight] that the issue of water quality is so important in our lives,” Hull select board member Jerry Taverna said, further noting that WRWS “is doing a fantastic job staying on top of all the details” and that Hull residents “appreciate that WRWS is extremely well run.”
Concern about Hull water main breaks
Taverna also expressed concern about the number of water main breaks and brown-water incidents that have occurred in Hull. While “not ideal,” Taverna acknowledged that these issues relate in part to the age of the system.
Future improvements involving extensive water main work include the multi-million dollar Route 3A Rotary/Summer Street project in Hingham and Manomet and Samoset avenues in Hull.
This would be the first time rates have increased since the Town of Hingham acquired the water company in 2020. A 10% rate increase was part of that contract.
At that time, a 10% increase every three years was anticipated, which turned out not to be the case.
“We’ve budgeted well to avoid that,” Tierney said in a follow-up to an earlier WRWS CAB meeting.
The water company also plans to transfer its customer-service and billing functions from Veolia to the Hingham Municipal Light Plant beginning on July 1. While the water company’s phone number, billing, and payment processes will remain the same, the customer-service personnel will relocate to the light plant’s offices at 31 Bare Cove Park Drive in Hingham.
Besides Anderson, CAB members include Hull’s Director of Wastewater Operations/Assistant Director of Public Works John Struzziery and Hull select board member Brian McCarthy; Stephen Girardi, Town of Cohasset member; and Charles Culpin and Jim Broderick representing Hingham.
