TOWN OF DIGHTON
BOARD OF SELECTMEN-BOARD OF HEALTH
979 Somerset Avenue · Dighton, MA 02715
(508) 669-6431
August 10, 2009
The Honorable Senator Marc Pacheco The Honorable Representative Patricia Haddad
Massachusetts Senate Massachusetts House of Representatives
State House, Room 312B State House, Room 481
Boston, MA 02133-1063 Boston, MA 02133-1063
Dear Marc and Pat:
During its regular biweekly meeting held on Wednesday, August 5, 2009, the Dighton Board of Selectmen met with the Water Commissioners from the Dighton Water District. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the proposed changes to the legislation that established the district in 1950. It appears that expansion of the district since its inception has not followed the procedures as contained in the original Act. As a result, some parts of the town now have water but are not in the defined district.
The discussion took place during the regular session of the meeting. A number of residents were present and had the opportunity to ask questions and provide comments. The focus of the meeting was what should be done to define the boundaries of the district, designate the status of people living within the district, and bring perceived fairness to the method of taxation, while facilitating the smooth operation of the district.
After lengthy discussion, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to submit the following to you to indicate the board’s position and recommendations for a compromise solution to what it perceives to be the issues.
The boundaries of the Dighton Water District would include the district as it was set up in the original legislation and the rest of the town but would exclude the North Dighton Fire District and any resident receiving water from the Town of Somerset
The Dighton Water District would contain two types or classes of members - active and inactive (or users and non-users). Active members would include everyone who receives service in the form of water or has a water main running by their property even if they choose not to connect to the system. Active members would also include those who live close enough to a fire hydrant for use in fire fighting. Active members would be taxed.
Inactive members would be those who do not have a water main running by their property and do not live close enough to a fire hydrant to benefit from it for fire protection. Inactive members would not be taxed until such time as they become active members and have services available meaning either a water main running by their property or live close enough to a fire hydrant so that it would be of benefit to them.
Both active and inactive members would have the right to vote at the annual election and the annual and special district meetings.
The issue of taxation and how fire protection would be provided for residents that have a fire hydrant somewhere near them but do not have a water line running by their property has to be defined. A reasonable method to determine how many feet from a hydrant a structure would have to be in order to get a sufficient supply of water for fire fighting could be easily determined by the fire chief. The chief would provide that information to the commissioners. The commissioners could then notify residents whose structures are within the designated number of feet from a hydrant that they would be taxed.
Inactive members who want to have the water lines extended to their area could make such a request to the commissioners as outlined in the Act.
We recognize that there may be need to discuss these recommendations further in order to formulate the proper language for the legislation. It is our sincere hope that when the language is drafted and before it is acted upon at your level, that this board and the residents affected by the proposed changes will have the opportunity to again review and discuss it.
We wish to express our sincere appreciation to you for providing the opportunity for this board to take an active part by expressing its opinion on the proposed legislation that impacts so many of our townspeople. We look forward to working with you and the commissioners to find a fair and workable resolution to these issues. Please feel free to contact us for additional information.
Sincerely,
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
_________________________ _______________________ _______________________
Nancy J. Goulart, Chairman Thomas Pires, Clerk Edward D. Reese, Member
cc: Atty. David Gay
Dighton Water District Commissioners
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