June 20, 2019
Asst. Town Administrator Michelle Monsegur shared the following water company acquisition update at this week's Selectmen's meeting to keep citizens/ratepayers up-to-to date.
The Town (including the Board of Selectmen, Town Administrator’s staff, legal team, volunteers and others) have been working diligently towards an orderly transition of ownership from Eversource to the Town of Hingham. To that end, many meetings have been held since Town Meeting in April to move the transition forward. These include three meetings with Aquarion’s Capital projects team; five meetings with Eversource’s transition team; a meeting with Eversource, Aquarion, and Town officials at the DEP offices in Boston; and other meetings (including discussions with Hull and Cohasset).
These meetings and discussions have resulted in a better understanding of expectations during this “good husbandry” period leading up to this significant asset purchase. Further, by working together, we have come to a resolution on a pending DPU hearing, thereby saving significant potential legal expenses. We have coordinated the Town’s road building schedule with any potential infrastructure improvements. We hope to bring on a Transition Water Superintendent to assist with many of the near-term transition related tasks that lay ahead, and we have interviewed several candidates for the Transition and Evaluation Committee and the Citizens Advisory Board.
Much work has been done and much more is before us. We have received some calls from property owners in town with questions about their current water service or requests for new water service in connection with upcoming projects. As of this date, the water system transition process has not yet been completed, so all water-related applications and inquiries should still be directed to Aquarion as the current operator of the water system. As I mentioned earlier, the Town and Aquarion are in communication on a weekly, if not daily, basis. We appreciate everyone’s patience while we work through this very complex transition of ownership responsibilities for this vital public resource.