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Advisory Board's FY10 Integrated Comments and Recommendations
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What's New...

June News & Notes
June 3 Board Summary
June Board of Directors Materials

In the News...

1/09 In a recent letter to MWRA Board Chairman Ian Bowles and Fred Laskey, Executive Director of the MWRA, Katherine Dunphy, Chairwoman of the MWRA Advisory Board, called for a meeting to address the pressing concerns of the fiscal climate and the development of the FY10 budget.
12/08 The Advisory Board released its 22nd Annual Water and Sewer Retail Rate Survey reporting an average increase of 5.8% in combined retail water and sewer bills in 2008 for customers in the MWRA service area.
11/08 MWRA staff made a presentation to the Board of Directors of on-going and new renewable and sustainable energy initiatives at MWRA. MWRA has made a major commitment to reducing energy consumption at its facilities in an effort to reduce both operating costs and the environmental impacts of its daily operations.
11/08 The Advisory Board has been vigilant about protecting ratepayers from unnecessary cost increases in regard to the completion of the North Dorchester Bay CSO Project. The Advisory Board has staunchly opposed paying for additional costs to move an Odor Control Facility underground, as requested by nearby developer and abutter, Corcoran Jennison Companies.

The Boston Globe ran an article last week on the MWRA’s project and the concerns of the Corcoran Jennison Companies, who would prefer the facility to be moved underground and for ratepayers to pick up the additional $4 million price tag that this would cost. On Thanksgiving Day the Boston Globe Editorial Board weighed in on the debate, concluding that the MWRA project was on the right track after a thorough planning and permitting process and should proceed as planned. The Globe reinforced an Advisory Board position, that the developer could pick up the additional costs to move the facility; Corcoran Jennison has refused.

In addition to the Editorial, the Globe also published a Letter to the Editor on Friday, November 28, submitted by the Advisory Board, which further articulates our position that increased costs to this facility should be footed by the developer and not the ratepayers.
4/08 Read about the Massachusetts Coalition for Water Resources Stewardship! View the presentation to the MWRA Advisory Board on April 17, 2008.
1/08 The MWRA makes a presentation at the January Advisory Board on the Proposed FY09 Budget Capital Improvement Program (CIP).
11/07 In response to a request for information from the Executive Office for Administration & Finance, the Advisory Board compiled a report about the history and success of the Debt Service Assistance Program. Read the report and its attachments to understand why dollar for dollar, Debt Service Assistance is the best way to ease the burden of the ratepayers.

About Us...

The MWRA Advisory Board was created by the Legislature to represent the interests of MWRA service area communities in the 1984 Enabling Act that established the MWRA. Its members include:

  • the chief elected official and a designee from each of the 60 cities and towns
  • a member of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council
  • six gubernatorial appointees representing various interests.

The Advisory Board reviews and comments on MWRA capital and current expense budgets, as well as MWRA practices and policies. For more information about the structure of the Advisory Board, see the Members page.