Nahant selectmen OK slight water fee hike

NAHANT – Selectmen approved an increase of less than 1 percent for combined water-and-sewer fees for 2012, but Town Administrator Mark Cullinan credited the board’s 2011 overhaul of rubbish fees for an approximately 3 percent reduction in fees for trash collection.”In trash fees, there appears to be a decrease,” Cullinan announced at the board’s Thursday meeting. “I think that is a result of the Board’s efforts to collect fees, which pushed the revenue up.”Cullinan explained after the meeting that Selectmen changed the rubbish fees for the town in summer 2010, so that every household paid a flat fee for services plus a fee for however many people resided in the home. Previously, there was an “unwritten policy” that seasonal residents would only pay fees for half of the year, he explained. But the administrative hassle, plus speculation that residents were perhaps not accurately reporting the number of people living in their household, led the Selectmen to implement the new system.In addition, Cullinan said that few people understood that fees paid not only for curbside pickup, but for the town’s compost area, beach and recreational area cleanups, special collections of yard and metal waste as well as increased recycling.”I think it was a good exercise to go through because I think it was educating people about what we do and don’t have,” said Cullinan. “Now it’s pretty reasonable for all.”The base fee for each household will decrease by $5, and there will be a $2 decrease in the fee paid per person in the household, Cullinan said. The current fees are $155 per household, plus $60 per member of the household, according to the town website.The water rate will also decrease in fiscal year 2012, but it will be offset by an increase in sewer fees, Cullinan reported. The rate for water will decrease from $5.94 per 100 cubic feet of water (the standard unit of measurement, which Cullinan explained basically translates to paying that rate for 748 gallons of water) in 2011 to $5.74 in 2012. This savings was offset, however, by a 76 cent increase in sewer fees – from an estimated $8.17 per cubic foot to $8.93.In other business:Selectmen approved the Warrant for the June 25 Special Election, which will ask whether to approve a $260,000 override for Johnson School. The override passed at the April 30 Town Meeting, but was rejected at the Town Election held the same day. There will be a voter registration session today from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the Town Clerk’s office for new or currently unregistered residents, or any residents who need to make a change in address. Anyone registering after this date will not be eligible to vote in this particular election, said Town Clerk Peggy Barile.