A new $5 million water tower and related infrastructure was the hot topic at a Newport city meeting Monday evening.
The discussion centered on the city’s plan to launch a water metering system in Newport. The new tower, a source of local controversy in its own right, generated little to no debate.
About 35 people, including officials and reporters, attended the virtual City Council meeting a day ahead of Tuesday’s bond vote on the proposal.
The plan calls for a 210,000-gallon tank tower to supply water for the city’s eastern industrial park near Derby Road, along with the metering system and improvements to a water reservoir on Palin Hill. The tower would be built in 2022, and the meters would be installed in 2023. City officials say the project will let Newport accommodate more businesses.
Water rates would go up $9.80 per quarter as a result of the projects, officials say. In addition, residents would pay fees based on their water usage.
At the Monday meeting, resident Jennifer Bjurling said she believes the city can expect a windfall in revenue when the entire community has water meters because many people will exceed the usage average — based on a two-person household — used to calculate water rates.
“Why is it that we as taxpayers are still being asked to contribute?” Bjurling asked. She questioned why new money from metered payments wouldn’t be applied toward the proposed project.
Wayne Elliott, the engineer hired who designed the city’s new water plan, said the city has no guarantee that more revenue will come with full metering. The city doesn’t yet know how much water it sells to residents, he said, and needs to wait until everyone is metered to figure it out. Some residents pay a flat rate; others pay based on usage.
Bjurling questioned when the city would amend the rate structure — a question officials could not answer definitively.
“You can’t just arbitrarily take a little bit of data and make a sound decision,” said Councilmember Melissa Pettersson.
Collecting the data would take months, Elliott said. Once officials have a better understanding of the volume sold, rates would be reexamined.
“We need to have at least a year of data,” Pettersson said. “Then we look at the rate structure again.”
Bjurling said if the rate schedule is not adjusted after all residents pay based on usage, families that use more than the assumed volume would be hit with exponentially higher bills.
“The rate structure is set up to really (stick) it to families in Newport,” she said.
When Bjurling tried to discuss sewer rates as a separate issue at later points in the meeting, Mayor Paul Monette said she was off-topic and moved on.
Resident Carl King, a challenger to Monette in Tuesday’s mayoral race, said the proposal was rushed and asked what potential business developments had necessitated the plan.
“This has not been rushed,” Monette said. The city has discussed the new water tower since 2017, when a similar proposal failed at the ballot.
Officials are “looking to the future,” the mayor said, and “there are people looking at the city of Newport.” Monette declined to detail development plans.
When the mayor shut down discussion on topics unrelated to the bond vote, Bjurling and King objected.
City Clerk Jim Johnson took the virtual mic when Bjurling again questioned how much water rates would increase.
“Everybody in the city pays a fixed charge, everybody, and that’s what’s going to increase,” Johnson said, referring to the quarterly rate increase. “They pay a fixed charge, plus whatever they use. You can shake your head all you want, but that’s the way it is.”
When Bjurling argued with the clerk again, Monette quickly squashed the spat and moved the meeting forward.
Resident Anne Chiarello also questioned why city councilors don’t regularly vote on water budgets. Monette emphasized that the council reviews water budgets monthly. Chiarello retorted that a review is not a vote.
During the hearing, Newport residents also heard from Derby Village officials who questioned the need for the new water tower.
Since the late 1990s, Newport has obtained water for the eastern industrial park from Derby Village. Relations between the two municipalities over the water issue have fractured in the years since — including a court battle that lasted from 2009 to 2017 — and Newport officials want out.
Derby Village officials, though, have told Newport residents that they might not need a new tower.
“We’d be happy to supply virtually unlimited water to city customers, negating the need for an expensive water tower,” wrote village trustees Rosaire Fortin and Stephen Mengel in a letter published Jan. 31 in the Caledonian Record. “The city only has to agree to pay the same rate as our village/town customers pay.”
City officials have called the outreach inappropriate — and believe the village wants to retain the current agreement, so it has leverage over the city.
“They want everything they can get out of the city of Newport at our expense,” said City Public Works Director Tom Bernier.
