Town Begins Water Restrictions

Yes, we've had a lot of water - ten days' worth to be exact. But Mansfield will go ahead with state mandated water restrictions anyway.

DPW head Lee Azinheira said Wednesday the Phase I restrictions will begin on June 6 and end September 6, no matter what the weather may be during the summer. The regulations, he explained, are part of the town's withdrawal permit from the state, and have nothing to do with rainfall.

The schedule for Phase 1 calls for watering on odd or even days depending on the street number of the dwelling. Hours are 5-9 a.m. and 5-9 p.m., with hand held hoses allowed anytime.

Azinheira said special exceptions can be made for those installing new lawns - the homeowner must call the DPW office and make arrangements.

"We have not had serious issues," he said. "We can enact stricter measures if necessary, but we must enact Phase 1." He said the measured draw on the wells takes spikes away that happen on individual hot days.

Azinheira also announced the scheduled increase in water and sewer rates, both by 6 percent. This is an arrangement that was voted by Town Meeting under water capital projects in 2007, needed to pay for upgrades to the water and sewer systems. Last year the rates increased by 4 percent for water, for an average yearly bill of $428, and the average family of four paid about $520 for town sewer services.

Two badly needed projects in the West Mansfield area are due to begin this summer - improvements to the Walsh well field on Gilbert Street, and a new treatment plant to remove iron and manganese from well water drawn from the three Albertini wells off West Street.

Groundbreaking ceremonies for each were scheduled for Saturday.

In addition, the expansion of the Norton-based regional sewer treatment plant calls for the purchase of two parcels of land in Norton for water recharge, as well as improvements in infrastructure. That project is still in the planning stages, but Mansfield's portion of the land purchase cost is on next week's Town Meeting warrant.

Despite the earlier Town Meeting vote for the scheduled increases, new Chairman Jess Aptowitz would not vote for the six percent at Wednesday's meeting.

"My taxes went up by over five percent," Aptowitz said. "Peoples' taxes went up from two to seven percent. With water and sewer up six percent, that's a lot of money."

Aptowitz said he realized there had been complaints from West Mansfield about discolored water, but said he had just visited the water treatment facility off Route 106 on Saturday, at the Canoe River Aquifer open house.

"That's a beautiful facility there," he said. "We must be way at the top of the range. It's getting very expensive to carry on your daily life. Six percent is a lot of change."

Member Olivier Kozlowski said, "I'm about as small a government guy as you can get, but even the most ardent would say I expect to be able to turn on my faucet and have it not be brown."

Kevin Moran noted, "This is part of a plan approved at Town Meeting - it's a scheduled increase to pay the debt on the expansion plans."

Doug Annino added, "The quality of our infrastructure is right up there - sewer and water are high on my list."

But Aptowitz was unmoved. "I totally respect that, but I am what I am," he said.

The vote was 3 - 1 to affirm the six percent increase, with Aptowitz in opposition. Azinheira said there is a 10 percent discount for early payment.