Selectmen Quiz
ClearSource Officials
By M. D. Drysdale

The Randolph Selectboard, which had threatened to take ClearSource, Inc. to court to collect $28,000 in sewer allocation fees, seemed somewhat mollified Tuesday by being able to have a face-to-face talk with the water company’s new top man, Jay Land.

The board put off until the next meeting a decision on whether to demand further payments under an April, 2006 agreement.

Land is the third generation of the family that has owned Wissahickon Water Co. in Pennsylvania, which merged with ClearSource last fall, taking on the ClearSource name.

He showed up at Tuesday evening’s meeting, accompanied by Plant Manager Doug Concialdi, asking for a "frank and open discussion" on the allocation payments. "I ask you to look at this in a different light," he said.

Land did not bring any new facts to the table, and at first, the Selectboard seemed to be inclined to be unsympathetic. Board Chair Jim Hutchinson reviewed the history of the dispute, which began years ago with ClearSource failing to increase its sewage allocation from 3000 gallons, even while discharging as much as 23,000 a day. An allocation for that amount would have cost the company $90,000.

By the time of the April agreement, the company had convinced the town it could reduce its discharges to 13,000 gallons a day, and it agreed to pay a $50,000 allocation fee to cover that amount.

In another compromise, the town agreed to accept the amount in five monthly payments of $10,000 each.

In fact, ClearSource managed to reduce its discharges to the sewer system down to 8000 gallons a day, and Land gave credit to Concialdi for his "stewardship" of the resource.

At the same time, ClearSource unilaterally reduced its payments as well, paying the town only $22,250, including late fees for its first two payments. That would be sufficient to pay an allocation for 8000 gallons a day, and the company seemed disinclined late last year to pay any more. No actual negotiation took place, however, and that’s when the town threatened to take ClearSource to court.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Land was ready to start that negotiation, but at first he spoke to stony faces. Selectman Steve Springer, who heads the Water & Sewer Committee, pointed out that "nobody knows what the future will be" and said it is "in the best interest of the town and ClearSource that you accept the agreed-upon allocation that we established last April.

"To me, it’s black and white," he said later.

Hutchinson, while complimenting ClearSource for its reduction in discharges, agreed. Usually, allocations are paid in advance, he pointed out.

"And if somebody applies for an allocation and doesn’t use all of it, we don’t give ‘em any money back."

"We want to hear a number," he told Land. "We’re going to vote."

But they didn’t.

"We’re negotiating," said Selectman Larry Townsend a little later, while acknowledging that a check for the remaining $28,000 "would make us happy." But he urged the board to "go slow" and not have a vote that night.

Public Works Supt. John Rotter argued that the lower allocation of 8000 would be better for the town system and suggested the use of a security bond. Former PW Supt. Joe Voci also stressed the positive impact of the reduction of sewage use and thanked Selectman Springer for his "leadership" in focusing attention on that issue.

Hutchinson then moved that the matter be tabled, and the board unanimously agreed.