Published in the April 5, 2018 edition
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
NORTH READING — D-day has arrived. After press time Wednesday night, the voters in neighboring Andover attended their second Special Town Meeting this year that may very well determine whether North Reading and Andover will continue their water partnership.
This time, Andover’s voters will only be asked to reconsider action taken in January that inserted an amendment into the 99-year lease agreement between the two towns which altered the agreement as presented and approved unanimously by North Reading voters last October.
That amendment, which passed by a vote of 746-391, would allow either town to exit the agreement after two decades with a written notice of five years. If this amendment is not rescinded April 4 it will be a deal-breaker because North Reading’s stated intention in continuing to purchase water from Andover is to seek a permanent solution to its water needs. The town has repeatedly stated that if it is not permanent it will return to the agreement in the works with the MWRA and the town of Reading, which does offer a permanent partnership, albeit at a more expensive cost.
It is important to note that North Reading has been buying water from Andover for 45 years, and for the past 27 years, the town has been Andover’s largest water customer. North Reading currently purchases about 1.5 million gallons per day (MGD) from Andover and produces about 1 MGD from its own wells. If this deal goes through, the town would shut down its wells and purchase 100 percent of its water from Andover. It is anticipated that the town’s needs will eventually increase to 3 MGD.
So what has changed in the past three months? Much. For starters, Andover’s Board of Selectmen has two new members who were voted into office last Tuesday. The departing selectmen, Bob Landry and Dan Kowalski, were lightning rods on this issue.
North Reading Selectmen hosted a joint meeting with Andover in February and managed to drive home the point that Andover needed to get this Special Town Meeting arranged in a matter of weeks since North Reading intends to make its decision before April 30.
Selectmen Chairman Mike Prisco also drove home the point that Andover must hold several public information forums to educate its own voters on this program, specifically on why the 99-year permanent agreement is the tipping point for North Reading.
Andover succeeded in getting those forums arranged, which both sides agreed were very well received.
North Reading Water Superintendent and acting DPW Director Mark Clark attended every forum to provide factual information to the Andover voters. Prisco as well as Selectmen Steve O’Leary and Bob Mauceri also attended forums. O’Leary reiterated that he let the Andover voters know that they were not there to influence their decision-making process; they were only there to answer questions.
“My willingness to participate in these forums was not to go up and sell it as to which way they should vote, but to ensure that our position in the agreement that we have in place right now and the framework that has been established… could not be misrepresented. Who could better do that than us?” O’Leary asked.
“It was important that someone be available to answer direct questions, not to debate the issues. We didn’t allow our Town Meeting to negotiate the terms and conditions. They can make suggestions but to include it in the motion, as was done in January (by Andover) is not acceptable to us,” O’Leary added.
On Monday night, Andover Selectman Alex Vispoli thanked Clark, Town Administrator Mike Gilleberto and the North Reading Selectmen for their assistance at the forums and patience throughout this process.
“It’s been phenomenal to have the other voice in the room. I do think there is value in having you at the Town Meeting on Wednesday night for questions. The questions that come up are clarifying questions and they gave a tremendous amount of credibility to what we are saying in these presentations,” Vispoli said.
