Town of Walpole, New Hampshire

Water and Sewer Meeting

July 22, 2026

Selectboard Present: Carolyn Vose, Chair, Cheryl Mayberry, and Steven Dalessio

Staff Present: Mark Houghton, Jodi Daigle, Jenna Rzasa of Tata and Howard, and Sue Bauer, Recording Secretary

Call to Order: Ms. Vose called the Water and Sewer meeting to order at 5:00 PM in the Walpole Town Hall.

Review of Current Open Projects – Mark Houghton

Wells: The rehab of the River Well planned for 2026 could have started last week, but it was postponed until later.  Given the boil water order now in effect, it is good the well is not down for repairs.  The well will be cleaned and rebuilt. 

Sewer Pump Stations: The ARPA Grant was used for new generators for each of the pump stations and the Watkins Hill well.  The old generator from Watkins Hill, which was too small, has been installed at Town Hall so there is now emergency power. It is not large enough to run the air conditioners.

Other Active Infrastructure Projects: 

Mr. Houghton reported that two pumps are out of service and waiting for seals. It is about six months wait for the parts delivery. The pumps are old and need to be replaced so that the system can be more reliable, but they are expensive.

The meters need to be updated to the new meters which can send readings via cellular.  It will eliminate meter reading eventually when everyone is switched.  Again, the new meters will be phased in because of funding limitations.

Today water tested straight from Watkins Hill well tested positive for E. coli. But, once the water was treated, it tested negatively.  However, any positive test means there must be a boil water order until the water tests negative twice.  This well is very near the stream which is all black from the recent heavy rains.  Mr. Houghton noted that this is only the second time in the history of Walpole water that there has been a boil water order.  The other time was 2005, right after the flooding.

This led to a discussion of funds available for infrastructure.  Ms. Mayberry needs to review and sort out the Water and Sewer finances because there are some numbers that look strange in the historical data.  Finance reports were provided for the meeting.  Mr. Houghton also requested quarterly reports going forward.

Ms. Rzasa reviewed the presentation she did a year ago for water recommending rate increases.  The increases are needed if the water-sewer department is applying for grants for future work, to start planning for future infrastructure needs, and to be consistent with state water rate recommendations.

Mr. Houghton asked if Ms. Rzasa is available to prepare a comparable report for sewer.  Part of the work would be negotiating with Bellows Falls to set sewer rates that will work for both systems.  Ms. Rzasa will create an estimate and get back to Mr. Houghton.

New Water Rates

Mr. Dalessio moved to change the residential base rates (for the first 500 cubic feet per quarter) to:

Service size (inches)	Charge ($/quarter)
¾ inch	$40.00
1 inch	$82.50
1 ½ inch	$200.00
2 inch	$350.00
Water usage over 500 cubic feet per quarter will be billed at $0.08 per cubic feet.

Ms. Mayberry seconded the motion.  With Mr. Dalessio, Ms. Mayberry and Ms. Vose in favor the motion passed.

Mr. Dalessio moved to change the commercial base rates (for the first 500 cubic feet per quarter) to:

Service size (inches)	Charge ($/quarter)
¾ inch	$55.00
1 inch	$110.00
1 ½ inch	$200.00
2 inch	$350.00
3 inch	$400.00
Water usage over 500 cubic feet per quarter will be billed at $0.11 per cubic feet.

Ms. Mayberry seconded the motion.  With Mr. Dalessio, Ms. Mayberry and Ms. Vose in favor the motion passed.

Action Items

• Ms. Rzasa will prepare an estimate to do an analysis similar to the water project but for sewer.  This will include negotiating with Bellows Falls.
• The new water rates will be applied to the third quarter of 2026 bills.  The bills for the second quarter are currently being printed.
• Ms. Mayberry will review the financial records for the infrastructure for Water and Sewer and let Mr. Houghton know how much is currently available.
• Ms. Mayberry will have Finance start preparing quarterly reports for Mr. Houghton.
• Mr. Houghton wants to be sure that calculations for affordability include both water and sewer when sewer rate increases are calculated.
• Once Ms. Rzasa has recommendations for sewer rates, the group will reconvene and determine new sewer rates.

Adjournment: Ms. Vose declared the meeting adjourned at 6:34 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Sue Bauer, Recording Secretary

(Note: These are unapproved Minutes. Corrections will be found in the Minutes of the July 30, 2026 Selectboard meeting.)

Tagged: Meeting Minutes, water and sewer department