Council Pushes Single Water, Sewer Rate

– Allison Goldsberry

One of the city’s most talked about issues was back on the Council floor again tonight when City Council President Robert Maiocco proposed looking into creating a single rate for water and sewer usage.

Maiocco called ever-increasing water and sewer rates an “awful burden” and the city’s “number one issue.”

Maiocco said a single rate for water and sewer usage based on consumption- that’s the more you use, the more you pay- will save ratepayers money.

Maiocco wants the City Solicitor to report back on whether it’s the Council or the Water and Sewer Commission that makes the final determination in establishing a single enterprise account for the water and sewer department and a single rate based on consumption.

The Council unanimously supported Maiocco’s proposal and also voted in favor of City Councilor Breanna Lungo’s resolution to meet with the City Engineer to discuss on-going water and sewer issues.

Lungo said she has received many phone calls and emails from residents complaining about sky-high bills. According to Lungo, one elderly resident in a household of two received a $2,000 bill for a two month period.

“The process is still not going smoothly. There are still a lot of issues going on,” said Lungo.

“People are sick and tired of getting the run around on this,” said City Councilor Paul Camuso.

Councilor Muccini Burke: City Must Guard Against ID Theft

A state gaffe that released the Social Security numbers of thousands of licensed professionals has encouraged one Councilor impacted by the security breach to firm up Medford’s own practices.

City Councilor Stephanie Muccini Burke, a licensed CPA, said she wants to make sure the city would not commit the same error as the state and inadvertently release Social Security numbers and other sensitive information under routine public document requests.

She asked the City Solicitor to explore what the city needs to do to prevent the same situation from happening in Medford, noting that Social Security numbers and other private information are on many City Hall documents and applications.

“It [sensitive information] could be in a number of places inside this building,” said Muccini Burke.

$15,000 Approved for City Hall Clean-up

The Council approved a request by Mayor Michael McGlynn and Environmental Agent Patty Barry for $15,000 for on-going clean-up efforts for contaminated land outside of City Hall.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has instructed Medford to clean up land contaminated by a fuel storage tank on the outside of the building in the parking lot.

Barry said the money will be used to determine the best alternative to clean up the site, which must be cleaned up within two years. The clean-up should be completed in July 2009, according to Barry.

Barry recently axed Clean Harbors, the group that was consulting on the project for several years, in favor of a new consultant to speed along the decontamination of the site.

According to Barry, the city is also overseeing the clean-up of two other contaminated sites, one at the City DPW yard and another near a dry cleaners and Congressman Ed Markey’s office in Medford Square.