Vote on August 20 on the Sale of the Municipal Water System

On Monday, August 20, there will be a Town Meeting to vote on the sale of the small municipal water system owned by the Town of New Fairfield to Aquarion. The Town meeting follows public discussion at BOS meetings, a unanimous vote by the Planning Commission for positive referral and a Public Hearing to present the proposal to residents. The system provides water to six commercial customers in addition to Town buildings. Previous administrations have discussed a potential sale to Aquarion over the course of the past several years, and we are pursuing this transaction for several reasons. First and foremost, we do not have the infrastructure or staffing to continue to operate the system. The equipment is aging and presents a liability for the town, as the municipality is responsible for providing potable water to all customers in the event of a system failure. Such failure could include an extended power outage or water main break, and present hundreds of thousands of dollars of liability to the Town.

Concerns have been raised regarding the sanitary easements and pumping limits in the proposed agreement of sale. The agreement, including the easements, has been reviewed and approved by the Town's attorney. Town use of town property will not change. Further, the water system is a regulated public utility now, and will continue to be regulated by the CT Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, the Department of Public Health and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection if sold to Aquarion. The CT Department of Health currently requires a 75 foot easement surrounding the wells and limits pumping to 9.9 gallons per minute from each of the three wells. The limits on pumping are required because of encumberances within the 75 foot radius that could potentially contaminate the wells, including catch basins on Route 39, a drainage pipe that runs the entire width of Memorial Field and the Town Hall septic system. THE LIMITS WILL NOT CHANGE in the event of a sale of the system due to these physical limitations within the 75 feet. In ADDITION TO the 75 foot radius, the DPH will require Aquarion to maintain a 200 foot radius to protect the land surrounding the system from contamination. This DOES NOT allow more water to be pumped from the wells.

Further, both parties anticipate that through interconnection with the two water systems in the center of town currently owned by Aquarion, the company will be able to provide a more reliable source of water to our businesses in the commercial zone. The sale of this system reduces the town's financial liability and creates the potential for a safe, reliable source of water for our business owners. It will be a positive step forward for New Fairfield.

 See Selectman Khris Hall’s column in the Town Tribune explaining the sale.

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Submitted by New Fairfield, CT

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