Will United Water's Rate Increases Drown Local Communities?

Fire hydrants.  Sure you've cursed them for blocking prime parking spaces and blessed them for protecting your home and family against destructive fires, but have you ever wondered how much they cost?

If United Water gets its way, beginning in November hydrant fees in Hastings and Dobbs Ferry will skyrocket, making our hydrants among the most expensive in the country…if not, as stated by Eastchester village supervisor Anthony Colavita, "the most expensive in the free world." 

Beginning November 1, United Water of New Rochelle, the private water company servicing much of lower Westchester, has proposed to increase rates more than 54 percent to cover $100 million spent on infrastructure updates, $68 million of which went directly to the Delaware Pump Station in Eastchester.

At a public hearing Monday before the New York Public Service Commission, local officials, firefighters and residents denounced the hikes, calling them, "obscene," "unjust" and "out of control"—and implored commissioners to reject United Water's proposal.

"The PSC need not, must not blindly accept precedence by approving the water company's proposals," Noam Bramson, mayor of New Rochelle said at the hearing. "The joint proposal was written without regard for the impact on residents' lives."

Although there were no testimonies offered by Hastings or Dobbs Ferry residents, Dobbs Ferry village administrator Marcus Serrano attended to show his support for the village's best interest.

"The hydrant fees alone could raise village taxes by four percent," Serrano said.

According to Hastings Village Manager Francis Frobel, the village has 225 public hydrants, for which they now pay roughly $150,000 annually. "Under United Water's proposal, we'll now be spending between $1,200 and 1,500 per hydrant, per year. That would be a real budget-buster."

At worst, the cost to Hastings would be $337,500. 

In addition to the hydrant fee, the company is calling for a 30 percent increase in water rates, which residents and business owners were less than thrilled to hear.

"I run a laundromat, which uses a lot of water," James Piacentino, co-owner of DJ's Brite Whites in Dobbs Ferry said. "What the water company is doing could severely hurt my business."

Representatives for United Water were also present Monday to defend their price scheme, deeming it necessary and beneficial to the overall quality of service they provide.

  "We understand these are difficult times for individuals, but we need to raise the rates due to the cost of badly needed infrastructure investments made in the last four years," Steve Goudsmith, a spokesman for United Water said. "And it is important for us to maintain a good rate of return for our investors to continue investing, letting us continue to provide uninterrupted service."

But some resident say an 11 percent rate of return is a little too generous to their investors.

"This is clearly exorbitant during these financial times," Mary Marvin, mayor of Bronxville said.

And even beyond the finances, those who testified Monday voiced concerns about negligence and a perceived disconnect between the company and the municipalities.

"I personally witnessed a house burn to the ground on Blair Road because the hydrant right in front of the building was not operational," Colavita said. "As fire fighters have expressed, non-working and low-pressure hydrants are putting them at risk."

Though not nearly as dramatic, Frobel recounted discovering a leak in a pipe at the end of his street in Hastings a few years ago. "I called United Water and they came to look at it but did not fix the leak for six full days," Frobel recalled. "Everyone said, 'Fran, you're the village manager and can't get a leak fixed!' I just viewed the whole thing as wasteful."

The nine municipalities who purchase water from United Water of New Rochelle have hired legal counsel to defend their objections to the Public Service Commission against United Water.

"We're looking for two things," George Calvi, Ardsley village manager, said. "The first is to reject the increase in rates. And the second is to have hydrant fees charged as a portion of users' monthly bills."

Under the current plan, the hydrant operations fee is a line item on municipalities' annual budgets. "But that means not-for-profit institutions and organizations, which are tax exempt, don't get charged. We want it changed so all water-users must pay their fair share of the bill," Calvi said.

The Public Service Commission has until early fall to decide whether to approve United Water's joint proposal.

"The PSC will approve, reject or modify the proposal," Anne Dalton, a spokeswoman for the commission said.

But until then, commission-appointed judge Eleanor Stein will continue to review verbal testimonies, letters and calls expressing opinions on United Water's joint proposal.

"I see this as part of a bigger issue about water use and conservation," Frobel said. "Until now, we've been fortunate enough to take clean drinking water for granted. Going forward, we'll have to start treating it like the precious and limited resource it is."