Weston Select Board waives water-bill interest as 14 abatements identified

WESTON — June 8, 2021 — Weston Select Board waives water-bill interest through June 30 as billing investigation widens. The board voted 3-0 Tuesday to suspend interest on contested, late, and miscalculated water bills, after Town Manager Leon reported that DPW had identified 14 accounts with clearly erroneous bills that will receive automatic abatements. Finance Director Susan Kelly told the board roughly 576 accounts may have been pushed into a higher pricing tier by pandemic-delayed eight-month meter reads, a ~$65,000 revenue effect with individual impacts up to about $330. Member Christopher Houston pressed for prorating tier breakpoints upward for any account with a read over seven months — a broader cut that would touch about 1,684 accounts — arguing the staff proposal missed customers who stayed in their original tier but paid more units at the higher rate. Chair Lori Bent said residents could not unilaterally decide what to pay: "There needs to be some sort of methodology here, and the town needs to be the ones driving that bus." The board also approved a National Grid petition to replace 1957-era four-inch steel gas main on Wellesley Street with new eight-inch plastic, and authorized summer Town Hall hours.