By VINAYA SAKSENA

CUMBERLAND — Town officials have taken another step in what they say will be a series of moves necessary to address longstanding problems in the town’s water department, which Mayor Daniel McKee said have led to inconsistent water quality and the department’s less-than-perfect financial status.

Down the road, Finance Director Tom Bruce said the town would consider three options for addressing its water needs in the future. Those included a regional water system involving other nearby communities, the hiring of a facilities management company to assist with the running of the water department (as had been done in Pawtucket) or the sale of the town’s existing water system. Bruce added that this last option was the least likely to be chosen.
McKee said these options would be considered, but were not likely to be acted on anytime soon. The mayor said informal discussions about regionalization had begun with Pawtucket and Woonsocket, but that those discussions were currently on the back burner. The most pressing priorities, he said, were to get the water department in better fiscal shape and to address ongoing problems of water quality- and quantity.
To address the departmnet's fiscal woes, the Town Council Wednesday voted unanimously to authorize McKee and Bruce to issue up to $3 million in tax anticipatory notes (TAN), effectively enabling the town to borrow that sum and in turn lend it to the water department. The town would lend the money, as it has done in the past, without bearing the full impact of that borrowing in its general fund — a key concern in a year when finances statewide are especially tight.
“The reason we’re borrowing is because we’re advancing so much money from the general fund into the water department,” McKee said. “The general fund can no longer afford to subsidize the water department.”
“We’ve never had the cash strain that we do now,” Bruce said. “Our surplus went from $6 million down to the (current) $4.7 million. Meanwhile, the water fund maintains its dependency on the general fund.”
Bruce said town officials decided to do the borrowing instead of having the water department borrow directly in order to garner a more favorable interest rate, which would mean a lower net cost to taxpayers in the end. He said the town would immediately close a deal this week with whichever bidder offers the town the lowest interest rate, which he said he was confident would be 3.4 percent or better. In a document included with the resolution authorizing the borrowing -- to be done for a period of three months -- Bruce estimated the total cost of the borrowing at $25,875.
McKee said that he and other town officials, meanwhile, were looking into various short and long-term solutions to the town’s ongoing water problems. To address supply concerns, he said the town was seeking a second source for purchasing water wholesale, something already being done for much of the town through the Pawtucket Water Supply Board. He also raised the possibility of a major water pipe cleaning in problem areas, which he said may take place some time in the next 18 months.
The mayor also said he planned to submit the name of a candidate for the vacant water superintendent position to the town council by the end of April. He said that candidate had been found, but that he could not release the name of that person yet.
“We found a candidate who is qualified,” he said. “We fully anticipate having a fully- qualified (superintendent) on board who is going to help us resolve this issue.”