EASTHAMPTON — Proposed rate increases for water and sewer service will be presented Thursday at a meeting of the Board of Public Works, as well as a proposed stormwater fee.
The meeting begins at 5 p.m. in conference room 1 of the city’s Municipal Building at 50 Payson Avenue.
Tighe & Bond, a civil engineering firm retained by the city, will present proposed water and sewer rate structures to the board and to the public.
Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle said that the presentation will outline the state and federal mandates that the city will have to meet for the treatment of its water and wastewater.
“Not sexy stuff but super important,” LaChapelle said, stressing the need for improvements to the systems. “The pipes are literally falling apart,” she said.
Department of Public Works Director Joseph Pipczynski will also be part of the presentation. He will give two recommendations to the board, one of which would raise water and sewer rates but not include the introduction of a stormwater fee, and another that would raise rates and introduce a stormwater fee.
Pipczynski said that if a stormwater fee were to be approved by the board, it would also have to pass City Council. He also said sewer rates would have to go up more if a stormwater fee was not implemented.
The mayor said the cost of upgrading the water and sewer systems is estimated to be around $22 million over five years and the rate structures are the options that the city will be looking into for paying for it. Pipczynski said, however, that he will be asking that the rates be set based on the first three years of repairs because the costs are less clear for the fourth and fifth years.
LaChapelle also said that, if the system is not upgraded, the city could be looking at fines from the state and federal governments.
The Board of Public Works will also hold a public hearing at 50 Payson Ave. on Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. in the City Council chambers to discuss and potentially vote on rate structures.
Pipczynski said repairs to the water and sewer systems could begin as early as July.
“We are way overdue,” he said.