Article Submission
Final PUC Hearing on HAWC's Request for Loan for Pipeline.
John Wolthers says:
Dear Friends,
Tuesday, November 4, 2008, is the final testimony day regarding Hampstead Area Water Company’s desire to receive MORE THAN A MILLION DOLLAR LOAN ($1,000,000.00) for a twenty (20) year period at 3.44% interest. The LOAN is for the interconnection of Atkinson Town Water with the Town of Hampstead. HAWC has also applied for a full expansion of their franchise to all of Atkinson. I ask that all residents who are concerned about the Public Utility Commission approving the above immediately contact the PUC with your views. A few of the reasons to site would be:
1. Excessive water loss history of HAWC.
2. The interconnection of water flow between Hampstead and Atkinson is against the town ordinance.
3. More than 54% of HAWC’s revenues are paid to HAWC’s related companies without competitive bidding.
4. No town approvals for site or franchise expansion.
If anyone can put this information on the Town TV Channel, it would be helpful.
You can find the complete list of email address to whom you can address your concerns and any other communications at
www.just-goaway.com
Thank you for your support.
John
Webmaster says:
It can be stressed enough how important this hearing is to the people of Atkinson. The citizens will be represent by an able group of people, BUT, the PUC needs to hear from you also. There is power in numbers. Tell the people on the EMAIL list that you are very concerned and that you do not want this pipeline and you do not want HAWC to franchise the whole town. Thank you.
Atkinson Town Hall
The Norman Rockwellian picture of Atkinson
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
I also need to add the matter of the new wells. The question has always been: Why do they need so much new water?
Two reasons,and they were not made known until well after the new wells were dug:
1) They want to include all of Atkinson in their franchise. At present, HAWC has enough water (if they fix their leaks) to handle their current Atkinson customers. If the franchise is increased, and residents decide they want to hook in, they need more water.
2) The pipeline. Does anyone think for a minute that water will be coming from Hampstead to Atkinson? They need new water to ship North.
No pipeline, no franchise increase and fix the leaks, there is no reason to pump more water. The PUC NEEDS to hear this from you.
Four of the addresses on the mailing list bounced. I will post corrections as soon as I receive them.
Why haven't there been any public hearings in Atkinson on any of this. How did this get so far into the state approval process and no one from HAWC, DES or PUC has given the public an opportunity to ask questions or say what they think about it?
Feels like the water grab and pipeline are being thrust down our throats and all we get to do is say, "Thank you sir. May I have another?".
November 4th ........ELECTION DAY.........for the hearing? How convenient! Wonder who set that date!
Was this meeting to replace the meeting last week that got canceled?
To Anonymous November 2, 2008 7:09 AM
No, canceling that meeting was the selectmen's way of getting out of doing their duty. They knew the DUP meeting was the 4th, and wanted them to make their decision first. SIGH
Our Selectmen are disgusting!
I have fixed 3 of the 4 broken EMAIL addresses. Still missing is the Atkinson Town Attorney.
For those that want to attend the PUC - Hampstead Area Water Co. - Hearings, please find the address, time, and hearing rooms listed below. Hope to see you there.
New Hampshire
Public Utilities Commission
21 South Fruit Street, Suite 10
Concord, N.H. 03301-2429
Phone: (603) 271-2431
Fax: (603) 271-3878
Tuesday November 4, 2008
DW 08-088, Hampstead Area Water Co. - Hearing (Court Reporter Requested)
10:00 AM-4:30 PM (Hearing Room A - Rm 103)
DW 08-065, Hampstead Area Wtr, Rates - Technical Session/Settlement Conf.
1:00 PM-4:30 PM (Hearing Room B - Rm 121)
The hearing is over. Documentation regarding the hearing will be posted as soon as it becomes available.
Bill Bennett, who has done a great deal of the legwork for the cause, has made his testimony available. You will find it a very interest read. It is available at
www.just-goaway.com
The PUC has not made its decision. If your are concerned about your water, and have not EMAIL'd the PUC with your feelings, it is not too late. Use the EMAIL list on the web site and tell them what you think, and please do it soon.
Webmaster says -
If you have already EMAIL'd the PUC, thank you. If you have not, please do so quickly.
For those who have, and those who have not, ask the PUC to hold a public hearing, here in Atkinson. Normally, this is not required. However, HAWC's project is too big, affects too many people. So far, all we've gotten from HAWC is, "No Comment", "I won't discuss that", and canceled meetings.
HAWC is a privately owned company whose purpose is to make a profit by exploiting a public resource, our water. When they have plans to significantly increase their capacity, and construct a means to transport that water out of Atkinson, don't the citizens have a right to be heard on this???
Ask for a hearing, with the PUC, DES and HAWC in attendance. It is the right thing to do.
Use the mailing list at
www.just-goaway.com .
And again, please do it soon. We do not have a lot of time. Thank you.
A note to HAWC customers -
Those of you who have followed Blogs 1 and 2 know that those of us on wells are not very happy with HAWC. They have dug wells with a combined capacity of over 600,000 gals/day. So, we range from somewhat concerned, to very concerned with what might happen to our wells. How does this affect you?
HAWC, and the urging of the DES, has applied for a low interest, taxpayer funded, $1.2M loan to construct a pipeline to connect their Atkinson system to their Hampstead system. Again, how does this affect you?
HAWC has also applied to the PUC for a rate increase which will be used to pay off the above loan. In the end, HAWC will have put no capital of its own into this project. You will be paying for it all.
Also consider this. As a result of the PUC hearings a lot of information regarding HAWC has come out. I'll share two with you. 1) In 2006 HAWC could not account for 33% of the water they pumped. Where did it go? Leaks, faulty meters? We don't know. I can tell you that YOU paid for the electricity to pump this water to nowhere. And, you have to wonder about their maintenance program
2) HAWC disclosed they have no power backup for their system. We don't know how long it will take, but if there is a town wide outage, not an unreasonable assumption with a good ice storm, you lose it all, power and water.
So, what do you think? Should HAWC be pursuing this pipeline, or should be working to fix what they have and improve its reliability?
Post a Comment