ARTICLE 15: Appropriation of Funds for Legal Settlement for Marlborough Sewer Case

To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money for payment toward the settlement of the sewer use fee litigation with the City of Marlborough in Worcester Superior Court, Civil Action No. 1685CV01772, including the entry of a legal judgment against the Town, and to meet said appropriation the sum be transferred from Sewer Enterprise Free Cash, such appropriation to be available for expenditure in Fiscal Year 2024, or take any other action relative thereto.
− The Town has been in litigation with the City of Marlborough following the 2010 expiration of the Intermunicipal Agreement (IMA) governing the Town’s use of the Westerly Sewer Treatment Plant located in Marlborough. The Town and City continued following the terms of the expired IMA whereby the Town paid an operating assessment for its share of the sewage processed at the plant until the City adopted an “out-of-city” rate and applied it to the Town’s use in 2015. The Town objected to the method, did not pay the fees, and instead continued paying estimated payments under the terms of the expired agreement with the hope agreement over a successor IMA could be reached. The City pursued a lawsuit against the Town to enforce its billed amounts. If a judgment is rendered or a settlement can be reached, the Town’s Sewer Free Cash should be applied to pay for it, as the Town has set its Sewer rates and retained Sewer Enterprise Fund balance in anticipation of the judgment and/or settlement.

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