50 Turn out for Water Board Vote

Portsmouth residents were furious in May to learn water rates would jump about 29.8 percent, but turnout was extraordinarily sparse in the Portsmouth Water and Fire District's election on Wednesday.

Philip T. Driscoll was re-elected to a three-year term as clerk with 46 votes and Terri-Denise Cortvriend was elected to a three-year term as water commissioner with 48 votes. 

One write-in vote for Denis M. Coffey was received for the commissioner vote and someone wrote-in "anyone" for the clerk election.

EastBayRI.com did the math and figured .36 percent of Portsmouth's 13,712 registered voters decided to vote in the election.

Both Cortvriend and Driscoll will be sworn in at the board's June 17 meeting.

Driscoll, board chairman, said the rates are due to a 19.41 percent increase in the wholesale cost of water bought from the city of Newport.

Newport raised rates to pay for the district's share of an $84 million debt service required to replace the Lawton Valley Water Treatment Plant in Portsmouth and to "significantly upgrade" the Station One Treatment Plant in Newport.

Construction at the plants began in 2012 and is expected to be finished this year.

The rate increase of 29.8 percent doesn't mean all residents will see that increase. Most will see their water cost increase from 20 to 40 percent depending on their meter size and quarterly water use. A customer who uses 5,000 per quarter will see an increase of 20 percent from $131 to $157 per year, as an example.

A 10,000 gallon using customer would see a 35 percent increase from $242 to $326 per year.

William J. McGlinn, general manager and chief engineer, said the work is required to enable Newport Water, Portsmouth Water and the Navy "to meet current and future federal Safe Drinking Water Act water quality standards."

Since 2000, the three island water suppliers have seen "numerous violations" of the act, mainly for trihalomethanes, or TTHMs, which are restricted more this year.