By George Barnes TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
george.barnes@telegram.com
HOLDEN — Selectmen plan to meet soon to talk about issues with the town water system, including water losses.
At a meeting of the Board of Selectmen Tuesday night, resident Ed Meyer told the board he is concerned that taxpayers have lost more than $400,000 because of water leaks. His suggestion was to hire a high school student for $100,000 per year part time to test hydrants to detect if there are leaks, implying that the town would still save more than $300,000 per year if the leaks were found.
Mr. Meyer said the town developed a plan to detect water leaks that failed to find leaks.
In the part of the meeting in which selectmen have two minutes to address the board, Selectman Mark Ferguson said the water leak problem is getting worse and it needs to be dealt with.
"Businesses have to pay for water they are not getting," he said, adding that the town is losing one of every four gallons of water it pumps.
Mr. Ferguson also implied that the matter was being ignored by the town administration.
Selectman Kenneth O'Brien suggested the board meet with public works officials to talk about water leaks. He said information should be available ahead of time so the board can see what is actually being done.
Board Chairman Anthony M. Renzoni agreed there should be a meeting but cautioned the board.
"Just because a resident says it, doesn't make it a true statement," he said, adding that the statements also do not represent the opinion of the board.
Mr. Renzoni also took issue with Mr. Ferguson's suggestion that the matter was being ignored.
"I resent these comments and they should not be allowed at this table," he said.
Mr. Ferguson then attempted to debate the issue further and was ruled out of order. Selectman Robert P. Lavigne said water loss would be more appropriately debated at a meeting with public works officials.
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Monday, July 21, 2014
Holden officials fight over water issue
By Sandy Meindersma CORRESPONDENT
HOLDEN — Holden's unaccounted-for water has become a hot-button issue for Selectman Mark Ferguson, who says the figure has spiraled out of control. He also says town officials disregard their efforts to fix the problem.
"The town has been complacent for too long," Mr. Ferguson said. "The rate payers have shouldered the burden for this for too long, and I know we can do better."
Anthony Renzoni, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, called Mr. Ferguson's fixation on unaccounted-for water an attempt to control Town Manager Jacquelyn Kelly, and "hijacking the day-to-day operation of the town."
"Selectman Ferguson has been on a crusade to make local government uncomfortable for all those involved," Mr. Renzoni wrote in an email. "This, in my opinion, is an effort to discourage rational citizens from participating in local government, thus allowing Selectman Ferguson and his associates the ability to maintain some control."
Mr. Ferguson's fixation on unaccounted-for water has become tiresome to the board and to Ms. Kelly, who wrote a memo to then-chairman Robert Lavigne complaining about a hostile work environment and personal attacks by a member of the Board of Selectmen.
At an executive session March 17, Mr. Lavigne distributed the memo to the Board of Selectmen, and asked that it be returned to him after the session. Mr. Ferguson called Ms. Kelly's assertions baseless and childish, challenged the reason for the closed-door meeting, and then left, taking the memo with him — even after Mr. Lavigne asked for its return.
In April, the board voted 4-1 to file ethics charges against Mr. Ferguson, who responded with a complaint filed with the attorney general, alleging that the board violated the Open Meeting Law.
Both complaints remain unresolved.
At the board's most recent meeting on June 16, the selectmen voted 4-1 to disavow themselves from the comments made by Mr. Ferguson at the March 17 and June 2 meetings, to distance themselves from Mr. Ferguson's words and actions.
Neither the ethics complaint, nor the written complaints from Ms. Kelly, have served to curb Mr. Ferguson's zeal for the unaccounted-for water. He regularly brings up the topic of unaccounted-for water during selectmen's meetings, sometimes during the selectmen's speeches, and sometimes as a point during discussions about other matters.
Mr. Ferguson also has stepped away from the selectmen's table during meetings and brought up the topic as a resident during the citizens' address portion of the selectmen's meetings.
Mr. Ferguson has been ruled out of order, and the chairman of the Board of Selectmen has called an immediate recess on more than one occasion during the selectmen's meetings to silence Mr. Ferguson, when requests for him to stop talking were ignored.
Unaccounted-for water is the amount of water that is measured as going into a public water system, either through well pumping or purchase, but is not accounted for through metering or other measuring processes.
Unaccounted-for water can have a number of causes, including leaking pipes or hydrants, slow-running or improperly calibrated meters, hydrant use and flushing, and water main breaks.
Mr. Renzoni said that Mr. Ferguson and his "numbers man" — resident Ed Meyer — have exaggerated the amount of unaccounted-for water, claiming it to be close to 40 percent, when in fact, unaccounted-for water has never been reported at higher than 23.9 percent.
"We all know that the UAW hovers around 20 percent," Mr. Renzoni said. "Selectman Ferguson and his friends have inflated that number on occasion to sensationalize the problem. This campaign of misinformation has not fooled those of us working to resolve the problem."
Mr. Meyer said he and Mr. Ferguson have repeatedly offered to meet with Ms. Kelly and water and sewer officials to discuss their concerns, but Ms. Kelly has refused to do so.
Ms. Kelly said that meeting with Mr. Meyer and Mr. Ferguson is not necessary, since Mr. Ferguson's suggestions to improve the unaccounted-for water are already part of a five-year plan that the town's Water and Sewer Division is currently implementing.
The Board of Selectmen is not planning to meet in July, and a meeting will only be called in August if necessary.
"The town has been complacent for too long," Mr. Ferguson said. "The rate payers have shouldered the burden for this for too long, and I know we can do better."
Anthony Renzoni, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, called Mr. Ferguson's fixation on unaccounted-for water an attempt to control Town Manager Jacquelyn Kelly, and "hijacking the day-to-day operation of the town."
"Selectman Ferguson has been on a crusade to make local government uncomfortable for all those involved," Mr. Renzoni wrote in an email. "This, in my opinion, is an effort to discourage rational citizens from participating in local government, thus allowing Selectman Ferguson and his associates the ability to maintain some control."
Mr. Ferguson's fixation on unaccounted-for water has become tiresome to the board and to Ms. Kelly, who wrote a memo to then-chairman Robert Lavigne complaining about a hostile work environment and personal attacks by a member of the Board of Selectmen.
At an executive session March 17, Mr. Lavigne distributed the memo to the Board of Selectmen, and asked that it be returned to him after the session. Mr. Ferguson called Ms. Kelly's assertions baseless and childish, challenged the reason for the closed-door meeting, and then left, taking the memo with him — even after Mr. Lavigne asked for its return.
In April, the board voted 4-1 to file ethics charges against Mr. Ferguson, who responded with a complaint filed with the attorney general, alleging that the board violated the Open Meeting Law.
Both complaints remain unresolved.
At the board's most recent meeting on June 16, the selectmen voted 4-1 to disavow themselves from the comments made by Mr. Ferguson at the March 17 and June 2 meetings, to distance themselves from Mr. Ferguson's words and actions.
Neither the ethics complaint, nor the written complaints from Ms. Kelly, have served to curb Mr. Ferguson's zeal for the unaccounted-for water. He regularly brings up the topic of unaccounted-for water during selectmen's meetings, sometimes during the selectmen's speeches, and sometimes as a point during discussions about other matters.
Mr. Ferguson also has stepped away from the selectmen's table during meetings and brought up the topic as a resident during the citizens' address portion of the selectmen's meetings.
Mr. Ferguson has been ruled out of order, and the chairman of the Board of Selectmen has called an immediate recess on more than one occasion during the selectmen's meetings to silence Mr. Ferguson, when requests for him to stop talking were ignored.
Unaccounted-for water is the amount of water that is measured as going into a public water system, either through well pumping or purchase, but is not accounted for through metering or other measuring processes.
Unaccounted-for water can have a number of causes, including leaking pipes or hydrants, slow-running or improperly calibrated meters, hydrant use and flushing, and water main breaks.
Mr. Renzoni said that Mr. Ferguson and his "numbers man" — resident Ed Meyer — have exaggerated the amount of unaccounted-for water, claiming it to be close to 40 percent, when in fact, unaccounted-for water has never been reported at higher than 23.9 percent.
"We all know that the UAW hovers around 20 percent," Mr. Renzoni said. "Selectman Ferguson and his friends have inflated that number on occasion to sensationalize the problem. This campaign of misinformation has not fooled those of us working to resolve the problem."
Mr. Meyer said he and Mr. Ferguson have repeatedly offered to meet with Ms. Kelly and water and sewer officials to discuss their concerns, but Ms. Kelly has refused to do so.
Ms. Kelly said that meeting with Mr. Meyer and Mr. Ferguson is not necessary, since Mr. Ferguson's suggestions to improve the unaccounted-for water are already part of a five-year plan that the town's Water and Sewer Division is currently implementing.
The Board of Selectmen is not planning to meet in July, and a meeting will only be called in August if necessary.
It is amazing that these people can go around and around over a issue such as water. It looks like Myers and Ferguson are not going away any time soon, so the people on the BOS should stop trying to dodge them, and deal with the issue. Myers and Ferguson could be right, or they could be wrong, but dodging the issue won't work. It looks like they tried that a number of times. The right to bring up issues at a Selectman's meeting, so long as you are on the agenda, is a valuable tool. It warms my heart to know Templeton is not the only town with issues, but they usually get resolved. Bev.
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