Maynard Select Board backs 7 and 9 percent water and sewer rate hike

MAYNARD -- March 18, 2025, Maynard Select Board unanimously endorsed a 7 percent water and 9 percent sewer rate increase for fiscal year 2026 and authorized a regional MWRA feasibility study. Public Works Director Justin Jarco told the board Tuesday that the sewer increase is driven primarily by an approximately 18 percent jump in the renegotiated seven-year Veolia wastewater treatment contract, while the water increase begins capital accumulation for a roughly $25 million new well source at the Rockland treatment facility. The average residential customer would pay about $130 more per year under the recommended rates; a paired 9-and-9-percent option would add $12 more annually and build $100,000 per year into a rolling whole-house filtration rebate program. The board also approved a $500,000 MassWorks contract with Stantec Consulting Services to design a redundant pipe under the Assabet River at the Powder Mill pump station, a 75-year-old single-pipe system Jarco described as past its life expectancy and the town's most critical infrastructure vulnerability. The town joined an intermunicipal agreement with more than 15 MetroWest communities to share the cost of a financial feasibility study for a regional MWRA connection, with projected infrastructure costs for that long-term project at $1.6 billion.