Reversed

PROVIDENCE – The state’s Water Resources Board unanimously reversed a decision by the town of Jamestown denying water to four homeowners whose wells had run dry and requested to tie into a municipal water line near their neighborhood.

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The full board, meeting Wednesday, followed a recommendation by a subcommittee that last month issued a sharply-worded rebuke of town officials – who maintained a new state law passed in 2022 that pertained directly to the homeowners’ situation, didn’t apply to Jamestown. Instead, the town insisted that a 1968 special act creating the water district trumped the new law – reasoning the board called “entirely misplaced.”

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It was the first appeal the water board had considered since the General Assembly passed the law three years ago.

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The 24-page recommendation that resulted from a two-hour hearing in March called the actions of the Town Council, sitting as the Jamestown Water and Sewer Commission, “absurd” and “clearly erroneous.” And it advised against sending the case back to the town, noting the process had dragged out for more than 18 months, as the town delayed the hearing process leading to its decision several times.

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“I’m very happy with the results,” said Glenn Andreoni, who with his wife Marjorie owns a house on Seaview overlooking the East Passage of Narragansett Bay that he’s been paying taxes on, but unable to use. “It’s been a long time coming.”

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The plight of the four homeowners – and another just south of them on East Shore Road – was detailed in a series of investigations by The Hummel Report, published in the Providence Sunday Journal periodically since 2022.

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Jamestown Town Administrator Edward A. Mello said after the decision that he’ll advise the council, sitting as the water and sewer commission, about the decision at a meeting on Monday night. If the town decides to appeal, the next step would be Superior Court.

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But it’s unlikely that will happen, as town officials approached the homeowners about a “settlement” before the water board’s decision. Neither side would talk about what that might look like, but the attorney for at least one homeowner said attorneys’ fees, damages and back taxes are all on the table.

The majority of Jamestown’s 5,400 residents - including the five members of The Town Council who made the decision to reject a connection - are connected to the “urban” water district; the four homes on Seaview Avenue are in the “rural” district, where everyone relies on well water.

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They all tell a similar story: Until a few years ago their wells were fine, but they gradually have become reduced to a brackish trickle. And houses just north of the neighborhood up East Shore Road have wells that supply plenty of water.

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Each homeowner has spent thousands of dollars on engineers and water specialists; when they approached the town asking to tie to the municipal water supply it was a last resort, not a first option. They say they will pay for all the costs associated with the connection; the town’s water line is just a few hundred yards south of their neighborhood.

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The water commissioners have steadfastly maintained that the district’s regulations prohibit them from supplying water to those on wells. They talked in hearings about being concerned the town might run out of water with future development and had to protect the interests of those in the urban district.

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Attorney Joelle Rocha represents Andreoni - and Christina DiMeglio, who was also denied a hookup in 2021 to her home on East Shore Road. DiMeglio reached a settlement with the town allowing her to connect after Rocha filed a federal lawsuit and appealed the town’s denial to the Rhode Island Supreme Court.

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On the eve of a hearing before the Rhode Island Supreme Court, the town reversed course and settled the case, agreeing to allow DiMeglio to tie in to the town’s water supply 200 yards south of her house. The water district spent more than $63,000 on litigation.

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Mello said he did not have figures on how much the town has spent on the case of the Seaview Avenue homeowners but acknowledged that it has had to hire outside attorneys to handle the litigation.

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“We knew it was a complex issue with a long path, so our solicitor suggested we bring in outside counsel to assist (with the case).”

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Although it settled with DiMeglio, the town dug in its heels when the four Seaview Avenue property owners made a similar request for a tie-in. This time, though, a state law passed in 2022 paved the way for Andreoni and the others facing hardship to have the water main extended to their houses, regardless of what local regulations said.

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But it took months to make that argument before the town, and several more delays before the water and sewer commissioners issued their decision.

And while Jamestown maintained the new law doesn’t apply, each year it has requested its legislative delegation to file a bill exempting it. The proposed legislation has never made it out of committee.

In its written recommendation to reverse Jamestown’s decision, the prehearing board wrote: “(The homeowners) have gone without a consistent potable water source for their respective homes for approximately 18 months or longer rendering their homes essentially useless and not livable. A home without a consistent source of potable water is not a home.”

 

On Wednesday, the water board convened in a third-floor conference room at 235 Promenade Street in Providence, headquarters to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

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When the board voted to go into closed session, an employee from the Department of Administration escorted the homeowners, their attorneys, town officials and two reporters to a smaller conference room on the second floor. They asked the reporters to leave so the two sides could engage in settlement negotiations, while the employee stood outside, not letting anyone go near the conference room.

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Within 30 minutes, the board announced it was ready to go back into open session, and everyone traipsed back up a flight of stairs to the third floor. They all declined to talk about the conversations behind closed doors and left quickly after the water board voted to reverse Jamestown’s denial.

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In an interview later with The Hummel Report, Rocha said she was confident the law was on the side of the homeowners. “I think the subcommittee did a really great job homing in on the legal issues and dispelling any notion that one community can arbitrarily pick and choose their way around the law.,” Rocha said.

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She noted that the homeowners all met half a dozen criteria set out by the town to obtain a tie-in to the municipal water supply.

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“I don’t think the town ever disagreed that (the homeowners) satisfied those requirements,” she said. “So, you’re in this kind of no man’s land of:  you’ve satisfied the requirements, we understand your situation and it’s unfortunate…but we’re not going to give you water.”

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The Hummel Report is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that relies, in part, on donations. For more information, go to HummelReport.org. Reach Jim at Jim@HummelReport.org.