Town seeks restitution from MDC and zoo
Published on May 20th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - As if the town's sewer rates aren't already high enough, it is now learned that Stoneham has been picking up the sewer tab for the Stone Zoo and the MDC for the past few years.
Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting told The Stoneham Independent recently that following a change, in 1995, in the method used by the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA) to calculate sewer usage, the town has been, and continues to be, billed for sewer usage by parties other than itself.
In a meeting last month with representatives from the MWRA, MDC, Stone Zoo, State Senator Richard Tisei's office, and State Representative Paul Casey, Nutting stated that discussion on the reimbursement to Stoneham was central with the MDC and Stone Zoo. There is disagreement regarding which entity owes what portion of the roughly $150,000 in question, to the town.
"The MDC says the zoo is responsible for the majority of the charges, but the zoo needs to be convinced," stated Nutting.
In addition, discussions are ongoing regarding a revision to the formula used for charging the town accurately on sewer usage with the MDC and zoo being excluded from that calculation.
According to Town Engineer Robert Grover, the town discovered the MWRA's error upon volume checks conducted at various locations in town.
"That area (the Stone Zoo and MDC facilities in the Woodland Road vicinity) stood out as high," reported Grover, who concurred with Nutting that following investigation into the matter, it was obvious to all parties that Stoneham was paying for charges it did not rightfully incur.
"No one disputes that Stoneham has been billed erroneously," said Grover. The issue now, he stated, is how to change the formula. He suggested that the $150,000 currently owed to Stoneham is likely to rise to $200,000 before the problem is resolved.
According to Grover, until that formula is changed, the town will have to either continue to pursue the parties for reimbursement or collect those sewer charges by setting up the zoo and MDC as sewer customers of the town.
This erroneous billing practice on the part of the MWRA does not come as a surprise to everyone, according to Frank Pignone, Chairman of the Water and Sewer Review Board.
Pignone alleged, in a conversation with The Stoneham Independent that the practice has "been done forever," and further charged that the MDC has been aware that sewer water was flowing from their facilities into Stoneham's system, without notification to any of the parties involved.
"To me, that's criminal," stated Pignone.
Pignone also believes that the zoo was only made aware of the situation upon notification regarding reimbursement to Stoneham when it learned what its actual sewer bill should be.
Pignone said that for four years he, as a Stoneham citizen, has investigated the town's water and sewer system to learn why Stoneham has among the highest rates in the state and found that, in looking at Stoneham usage charged by the MWRA, "the numbers just weren't matching."
Pignone stated that he is happy that the town is now looking into the situation since, when he tried to bring it up to town officials on more than one occasion, "no one heard me."
A follow-up meeting with all the parties is expected in June and it is hoped, at that time, that the MDC and Stone Zoo will have reached agreement on payment amounts with the town, and that the MWRA will have corrected the formula for calculating Stoneham's true usage.
Nutting stated that the ideal situation would be for the reimbursement funds to be received prior to the end of the fiscal year (June 30), but was skeptical that that was likely to happen.
Once received, the reimbursement funds will be added to the sewer surplus account and impact the town's sewer rates accordingly. If the fund's ceiling of $400,000 is exceeded, sewer rates will be reduced appropriately.
Subscribe and get Home Delivery of The Independent
Save 36% off the newstand price — that's like 18 FREE issues!