EAST PROVIDENCE — With several residents of the city concerned about the rise in water/sewer rates, it makes sense to look back on how East Providence reached this point.
The current rates, which were determined in a 2011 study conducted by Malcolm Pirnie/ARCADIS environmental consultants, were first approved by the former state-appointed Budget Commission back in April of 2012 were $8.64 per 100 cubic feet and $9.63 for Fiscal Years 2013-14 and 2014-15, respectively. FY2015 rates will rise to $10.74 per. The Commission formalized the increases in December of 2012.
The increases were deemed necessary for the city based on the schedule of paying off bonds procured for the most recent multi-million capital improvement projects completed over the last few years.
Before that, the previous City Council, seated from 2008-10, began the process of privatizing the city’s wastewater collection and treatment facilities for real in 2009. That Council held several meetings and workshops on the subject. An agreement to contract those services with United Water was officially announced in March of 2010.
The 10-year deal called for United Water to begin operational responsibility for the system, while also implementing $52.5 million worth of infrastructure and treatment process upgrades necessary to bring the collection system and plant into compliance with new state Department of Environmental Management mandates. Those improvements included a new treatment plant in the Riverside section of the city as well as the pump station at Watchmocket Cove off Vets Parkway.
At the time, city found itself in quite a quandary. East Providence was being fined by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, was being sued by Save the Bay for discharges into Narragansett Bay and also needed to come into compliance with the aforementioned new state regulations for water treatment facilities in municipalities abutting the bay. As well, the city was being pressured by the State Auditor General for running a deficit.
Without the ability to manage the scenario on its own, leaders at the time decided it would be better to join up with United Water.
Then Council President and ceremonial mayor Joseph Larisa championed the agreement.
“What the city and United Water have done is nothing short of spectacular,” Mr. Larisa was quoted in a press release given when the March 2010 agreement was announced. “The city and its residents receive a new wastewater treatment plant, a new pumping station and professional wastewater service, and we retain the right to set our rates and keep jobs for our workers.”
Those rates as currently quoted, however, only called for a mere 10-percent increase, not the exponential hikes some residents were faced with in their latest quarterly bill.
On the heels of a raucous City Council meeting on November 18, a special session has been scheduled on Tuesday night, Nov. 25, at 7 p.m. to further discuss the topic. Acting City Manager Paul Lemont, Finance Director Malcolm Moore and representatives from United Water are expected to be in attendance.
“Because of the importance of the water and sewer billing issue we will be scheduling a Special Meeting to work directly on the outrageous billing and the process,” Councilman Tommy Rose wrote in a press release Wednesday, Nov. 19. “This meeting will also inform the residents of any grace periods or discounts.”