(Episode Description is AI generated and may be errors in accuracy)
A quiet sewer system hides a lot of moving parts. We pull back the curtain on a month of fixes, planning, and hard numbers: five new hookups, jetting stubborn mains, and the mystery of a foaming supermarket wet well that kept pumps from priming until crews dosed anti-foam and fished out shrink-wrap-like debris. It’s a small drama with big implications—what flows into a station determines what fails, what it costs, and how quickly the team can restore service.
From there, we move into long-horizon work. The Route 44 control upgrade cleared submittals and the off-site control panel build is underway, with mobilization slated for early January when the last VFD arrives. On the streets, Mill Street paving wrapped, Elm Street East cleaning continues, and a future Pine Street culvert replacement will reroute a sewer main for resiliency. We also prep for a special town meeting with three sewer articles and a correction transfer, while subdivision acceptances trigger careful easement reviews to ensure the town only takes on assets with clear rights and obligations. Even housing policy enters the chat, as ongoing 40B hearings intersect with infrastructure planning in a town ranked among the state’s leaders in subsidized housing share.
Then the ledger opens. A final payment closes a decades-long IMA obligation, a quarterly treatment bill lands with an overcharge credit after staff challenged unrelated costs, and we frame the FY27 budget at $3.184 million, a 2.5 percent rise. Health insurance, pensions, and Taunton treatment charges are the swing factors, which is why we’ve been building stabilization and earmarked reserves to absorb the eventual hit from regional plant upgrades. We lay out four rate options—from no change to a $24 annual increase—showing how each affects revenue, reserves, and the ability to handle late collections without risking service. It’s a clear look at what reliable wastewater service truly costs and how to fund it responsibly.
If you value transparent infrastructure talk and want a say in how we fund essential services, tune in and share your take. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: which rate path best balances fairness and reliability?
https://www.raynhaminfo.com/
Copyright RAYCAM INC. 2025
