Hatfield Select Board Approves 5 Percent Water and Sewer Rate Increases

HATFIELD — October 26, 2021 — Hatfield Select Board votes unanimously to raise water and sewer rates 5 percent, adding roughly $4.25 per month to average residential bills. The board approved the increases at its October 26 meeting following a public hearing at which Dave Prickett of DPC Engineering explained the hikes are needed to cover rising sludge, utility, and inflation costs and to qualify for a USDA grant program that could offset up to 45 percent of a multi-million dollar wastewater plant upgrade. Prickett noted Hatfield's rates remain at about 60 percent of the state average. The board also unanimously approved a new traffic control officer program allowing retired police officers and active firefighters to direct traffic at construction details, and deferred a vote on a $148,800 fuel tank replacement contract — $50,000 over the town meeting appropriation — pending a Finance Committee meeting on the shortfall. The town's fuel tanks are currently uninsured after two carriers declined to cover them.