SAUGUS — The Housing Authority wants the town to reimburse charges the body paid to repair two water main breaks last year.
William Stewart, the commissioner of the Saugus Housing Authority, said there were two water main breaks in February 2017 that left a large hole on Rice Street that needed to be repaired quickly.
A contractor repaired the breaks, but the town decided that the Housing Authority should be responsible for covering the cost, said Stewart.
“Like I said before, you never charge the homeowners when it’s in front of their house, but all the sudden they wanted to charge us when it was in front of our building,” he said.
The Housing Authority ultimately paid the contractor $14,409, hoping for reimbursement from the town.
“We felt the contractor shouldn’t suffer forever as we haggle back and forth with the town,” said Stewart.
More than a year later, the Housing Authority has yet to be reimbursed for footing the bill, so Stewart believes the only alternative was to seek the funding at Town Meeting, he said.
He’s asking Town Meeting to appropriate more than $14,400 cover the costs.
“If this one goes by, what happens to the next one or the next one after that?” said Stewart. “If we have to replace all of the water main pipes for the whole housing authority area, it could result in quite a bit of money for the Housing Authority that way.”
Town Counsel John Vasapolli said he wasn’t familiar with the exact location of the breaks, but that if they were located on private property, the property owner would be responsible for the repairs.
“The Housing Authority does have a roadway that’s on their private property,” said Vasapolli. “Depending on where its located determines who is responsible.”
The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to include the article in the next Special or Annual Town Meeting warrant, whichever comes first. Chairwoman Debra Panetta noted that he obtained more than the necessary amount of signatures and the board’s action was routine.
