Council OKs ‘Unique’ Agreement With United Water

By John Voket and

Andrew Gorosko

A negotiated agreement between Newtown and the United Water Company that was approved by the Legislative Council this week was described by a state Department of Utility Control (DPUC) representative as both unique and unusual. The council voted unanimously April 27 to authorize First Selectman Pat Llodra to sign an agreement that was nearly a year in the making, which will clear the way for United Water to install a 12-inch, high pressure water line up Main Street and Route 6/25 into and through Hawleyville to primarily serve the Greenridge subdivision in neighboring Brookfield.

Phil Dukes, a spokesman for the DPUC, said it was unusual for the state utility officials to see a new negotiated agreement of this nature come to the agency so late in the process. He also said the pact was unique in that it may be among just a few times that DPUC commissioners have stepped back to let a water utility and municipality create such an agreement.

While Mr Dukes said the DPUC always prefers to see a collaborative effort between parties, the agency typically steps in and asserts its authority to ensure water is supplied where it is needed much earlier than the agency did in the Greenridge case.

Attorney James Rice, who represented the town throughout the negotiation process, also hailed the agreement because it created a mandate for the water company to perform a water resources study on the Pootatuck Aquifer, the Pootatuck River and United Water’s water well system.

The results of the water resources study would be provided to Newtown and to the DPH. Also, United Water would be required to participate in regional water supply planning.

Mr Rice described the pact as a best-case outcome, which identifies town concerns while permitting, upon final DPUC approval, the water line project to move into its construction phase without further litigation. The agreement additionally provides what Mr Rice called “controls,” to temporarily reserve the use of the Pootatuck aquifer to serve the Greenridge development, as well as a few homes in northwestern Newtown along Route 6.

United Water has been ordered by the state to supply water to the subdivision which has been plagued by uranium tainted wells. Consuming the naturally occurring radioactive minerals is considered harmful.

About 700 people live in the Greenridge neighborhood.

Initially, Mr Rice said Newtown reacted aggressively to news that United Water had received clearance to begin construction of the water line in the spring of 2010. Mrs Llodra, who was on hand, added that the original plan was to have the water line completed and serving Greenridge by September of 2010.

Mrs Llodra said that the agreement also calls for better long-term planning among Newtown, Brookfield, and New Milford to identify and possibly tap new redundant water supply sources.

“If we didn’t work out some arrangement, the DPUC and DPH (Department of Public Health) would have allowed [installation of] a 12-inch pipe without restriction,” Mr Rice told the council. He said the town might have thwarted the utility’s plan to install the line for some time by carrying their concerns to superior court, but that eventuality did not occur because of the new pact.

Mrs Llodra also said that the Borough of Newtown played an important role in getting certain concerns addressed by the water company. Borough Warden and local finance board Vice-Chairman James Gaston explained that the original United Water plan was to excavate Main Street in a “zebra pattern” and then to simply patch the trenches.

But since it would involve compromising part of a Historic District, he said the situation created some leverage for Newtown and the Borough to require complete resurfacing after any excavation in the district along Main Street. He also said the utility would be required to cover the cost of multiple pressure release valves that would normally be tacked on to homeowner assessments, and that the utility would still need to see a zoning regulation created to permit an electrical switching panel to be installed near Town Hall South.

Several council representatives expressed concerns with language in the agreement that essentially gives United Water virtually unrestricted access to pump out of the Pootatuck aquifer. Councilman Richard Woycik said, “I don’t have a warm feeling that United Water is looking out for the best interests of the people of Newtown.”

And Councilman George Ferguson said it appeared as though the “United Water Company’s attorneys wrote the agreement to exploit every loophole.”

One big question, which will be answered when the DPUC makes its final ruling on the Greenridge case, is who will ultimately pay for the water line installation and related improvements, and how much.

“The charge will be to customers of United Water,” Mr Rice said. “We don’t know how much [of the cost] will be allocated [exclusively] to Greenridge customers.”

The attorney told the council the overall cost of the new water service is estimated to be $3.5 million.

What The Agreement Says

Under the terms of a proposed stipulated agreement, United Water would temporarily agree to not serve customers in Brookfield with water from its Newtown-based water system, other than the customers in the Greenridge subdivision.

United Water also agrees to have a scientific study performed to identify other potential water sources for its water system, besides its two wells which are sunken into the Pootatuck Aquifer at 219 South Main Street.

According to the proposed agreement, “The implementation of the study will be determined by United [Water] in its sole and exclusive discretion, with appropriate input from Connecticut state agencies and consultation with Newtown and Brookfield…The cost of United’s funding of the study is not to exceed approximately $30,000,” according to proposed agreement.

“United will consider the recommendations of the study as part of its overall water supply planning efforts…The study is not intended to diminish, modify, limit, negate or amend any franchise, registration, permits or any other rights that United has, or may have or be granted, or limit United’s rights to serve any other portions of the United Water Connecticut system with respect to its water supplies, including the use of the two Pootatuck wells,” the document adds.

The proposed agreement states that within Newtown, property owners on Hawleyville Road would be allowed to connect to the water main that extends to Greenridge and be subject to the normal rules, regulations, and charges levied by United Water.

“On water issues of recognized mutual interest, United will engage Newtown and Brookfield in discussions on a collaborative basis with all parties acknowledging and confirming that United shall be making all decisions in its sole, exclusive, and absolute discretion. United, Newtown, Brookfield and the Borough agree to form an informal regional water committee which may include other municipalities to discuss regional water issues of mutual interest and importance,” it adds.

The proposed agreement states that United Water in its sole and absolute discretion would consider future potential primary or backup sources of water for its water system whose source is now its two Pootatuck Aquifer wells.

The proposed agreement suggests that United Water conduct a scientific study on natural habitat protection in terms of river water levels in the Pootatuck River near the firm’s two water wells.

DPUC-DPH regulators are allowing the creation of a stipulated agreement among Newtown, the Borough, and Brookfield that would become a part of a revised DPUC-DPH approval of extending United Water’s Newtown-based water supply to Greenridge. The stipulated agreement would remain in effect for 42 months.