City Council - City Services Committee Hearing on Docket #0932

Good morning. My name is Ed Flynn, the district city councilor in District 2. I'm chair of the City Council Committee on City Services Today is August 14th, 2026. The exact time is 10-03. This hearing is being recorded. It is being live streamed at boston.govcitycouncil-tv.org and Broadcast on Xfinity, Channel 8 RCN, Channel 82 Fios, Channel 964. Written comments may be sent to the committee email at ccc.csit at boston.gov and will be made part of the record and available to all city councilors.

Public testimony will be taken at the hearing, whether it's before or after depending if anyone wants to testify. The public can also request the link As we mentioned the public can also send an email and when people do testify in person they will have an opportunity to speak for two minutes. The sign-up sheet is off to the If you are interested in testifying in person, please add your name to the sign-up sheet. If you're looking to testify virtually, please email our Central Staff Liaison Shane Pack at Shane, S-H-A-N-E dot pac, P-A C at boston.gov for the link and your name will be added to the list. Today's docket is 0932

This is an order for a hearing to discuss discounts for seniors in persons with disabilities by the Waterloo and Soil Commission. The matter was sponsored City Councilor Flynn, myself and City Council Worrell who was referred to the committee on May 6th 2026. We're honored to have many distinguished panelists that are here today, including Nicholas Rossi who's the Chief Administrative Officer for the Boston Water and Soil Commission. Darlene Wallace, who's the Director of Account Services. Dolores Randolph, who is the Communications Officer and Emily Shea, who was the Commissioner at Age Strong want to say thank you

All of you for being here, the professional work that you're doing on behalf of the residents of Boston. I do want to give a brief opening statement and then I do want to give an opportunity for the Water and Soil team but also to the Age Strong team if you would also like to provide an opening statement as well. First, I thank you to Councilor Worrell for joining me as an original co-sponsor on this matter. The Boston Water and Soil Commission actively monitors the health and function of its systems via pipe relining Pipe Replacement, and other preventative maintenance programs including water main flushing, pipe cleaning, catch basin cleaning among others.

The Commission works with customers on manageable payment plans to ensure there is no interruption in services. Homeowners age 65 and older as well as fully disabled homeowners living in owner-occupied one through four family residential properties are eligible for 30% discount on monthly water, sewer and stormwater Charges. Eligible properties must be owner-occupied residential dwellings. To request a discount on water and stormwater charges, residents must complete the discount form available for download as a PDF or in person at BWSC offices.

Residents who are customers of the Boston Water and Soil Commission that require payment assistance are encouraged to call the commission's collection department at 617-989 7070. 617-989-7070 I look forward to the discussion with our panelists today to talk about this important program, a unique important program that offers discounts to persons with disabilities. and our seniors. And I want to use this opportunity really as an opportunity to educate the public. Certainly it's going to be, this hearing will be on cable television

I want to ensure that when people do find this on cable television that they can watch this for a few minutes and maybe follow up if they're interested in this program. Panelists that are here. Not sure if the Water and Sewer wants to start first or if Age Strong wants to stop for us, but OK from the water and sewer team. Hi. Good morning.

Yes, good morning. Thank you for having us.

Welcome.

I'll start with remarks.

Yeah, that's excellent.

So we appreciate the opportunity to join Commissioner Shea with the AIDS Strong Commission, to discuss our shared goal in helping our older residents. My name is Dolores Randolph. I'm Chief Communications Officer at Boston Water and Sewer Commission. Glad to be here with our team. who you mentioned their names earlier, Nick Rossi and Darlene Wallace along with other senior staff from the commission. As referenced in the hearing order Since its creation by the Massachusetts legislature in 1977, our mission at Boston Water and Sewer Commission is to provide sound economical and efficient water supply distribution Sanitary Sewage and Stormwater Drainage System for the benefit of the people of the City of Boston. The Enabling Act also allows the Commission to provide reduced rates for persons 65 years or older

and for fully disabled persons. To date we have approximately 11,000 homeowners receiving this discount 900 of whom are fully disabled the board of Commissioners had welcomed the opportunity to offer this discount and over time has increased the benefit to eligible homeowners. Initially, homeowners received 25% off of their water portion of their bill only. To date, currently they're receiving 30% off of their water, sewer and stormwater charges on their bill. We believe this discount is fair and helps reduce the financial burden on these ratepayers to maintain this important resource. As Commissioner Shea and I have experienced, our teams feel that this information should go out to multiple residents throughout the city.

We have Boston Water and Sewer Commission has participated in Aid Strong's cost saving events, as well as many community events across the city where residents Attend, and we share this information along with our other programs. So we've brought along for your review certainly the discount forms as well as program information Thank you, Dolores. Thank you for being here.

Thank you for the presentation. I'm going to go next to Commissioner Shea. Commissioner?

Great, thank you counselor and thanks for the opportunity to be here today. I love this discount so it's great Be able to get the word out about it even more. And I really appreciate your engagement in this important conversation. So as you mentioned, I'm Emily Shea. I'm the Aid Strong Commissioner for the City of Boston. And Age Strong works with our residents age 55 and over, helping them get connected and stay engaged and really with anything that they need support with. Economic security we know is fundamental to the well-being of older people, yet across Boston many older people face significant challenges in meeting their basic needs. As the cost of living continues to rise, so does the need for comprehensive and accessible support. At Age Strong, we understand the urgency of expanding resources and services so that every resident can age with dignity, security, and independence.

Something I think we all would like to do. To meet older residents where they are Age Strong's dedicated team of 19 constituent service staff work across the neighborhood, spending dozens of hours in the community each week connecting older people directly to various benefits that they have earned. In FY26, our team hosted over 40 Medicare open enrollment events and cost-saving clinics across Boston. And Dolores mentioned their partnership in these events These clinics provide in-person, one-on-one screenings and hands-on application assistance for critical financial supports including property tax exemptions and deferrals the Senior Circuit Breaker Tax Credit

Medicare Enrollment and the Medicare Savings Programs, SNAP, Fuel Assistance, Electricity Savings, Water and Sewer Discounts, Senior Home Repair, and other supports that can ease the rising cost of living. and we're actually, I'll just put in a plug. We're actually securing dates now for our upcoming Medicare open enrollment events which will happen between October 15th and December 7th during the Medicare open enrollment period. AidStrong is proud of its partnership with Boston Water & Sewer, not only during these clinics but also in our day-to-day work. and I love the water and sewer team because they're willing to dig into all of the complex issues that come up. And try and really resolve constituent challenges

and they're always kind of the first to the table to say let's look at this situation and figure out what we can do with it. Having over 11,000 older people enrolled in the water and sewer discount programs is testament to how strong the partnership is between the agencies. We collaborate regularly to ensure that older adults can stay informed by amplifying this program in Boston Seniority Magazine, in our email newsletters when tabling in the community through our social media channels and on our website. Being able to save an older homeowner 30% on their water, sewer and stormwater charges is huge and so we just are really grateful for the discount in that we can help connect people to it. So I want to thank everyone for their continued partnership, The Water & Sewer

Thanks to you and the City Council for continuing to help get the word out on all of these great benefits.

Thank you, Emily, and thank you, Dolores. Some questions, but before I do that, I do want to check with City Council Central staff. I just want to make sure that there is no one that wants to testify. I do Okay. We don't have anyone that has signed up to testify virtually or in person, but if we did I wanted to give them an opportunity to go first. So I'll go to I'll go to my questions. The discount for seniors and the discount for persons with disabilities What is the age for a senior? 65. So as long as you're 65, then you're eligible for it?

Yeah, you have to reside at the property. You have to live there and it has to be between a one-and-four family property.

Do you have be the homeowner? Yes. Okay. What about if your tenant?

Tenants are not responsible for the water bill. The owner is. Whether they have a lease agreement or not, that's between the homeowner and the tenant. The homeowner is responsible for it. There's only one meter per building.

Previously, I'm not sure if you've ever heard this but an LLC is not necessarily in someone's name. It's more of a company. Does that qualify as someone? No, they're supposed to be in the homeowner's name.

Obviously we deal with trusts more often now than not so those are under review. Typically they have to be the sole beneficiary on the trust but those are things we are looking into as well.

And the qualification for someone that is disabled, how does someone meet that qualification as a person with disabilities?

Persons who are disabled, we would require a letter from their doctor stating they're fully disabled. They can send in Social Security Administration Award Letter. But we would just need some form of proof that they are fully disabled.

Now, can you just explain to me fully disabled, what that term is. And the reason I'm asking is... I'm active with a group called The Disabled American Veterans. I don't know if they classify themselves as fully disabled, but I just want to know if there's a distinction between fully disabled and service-connected. I know it's technical language, but are you guys familiar with that at all?

Not necessarily, but we would need some documentation that basically says that. I mean, we've got letters that say they're 50% disabled and it has to say fully disabled. That's the determination that we don't determine, but the language has to state that in the letter. The documentation of their receiving benefits that state fully disabled, that's what we use.

So it's the wording fully disabled has to be in this somehow? 100%. Okay.

And they, again, have to live at the property and be the owner of the property as well.

Okay.

I just want to remind the council in that language was initiated initiated through our enabling statute. So it was from the creation.

OK, that's helpful. So what steps does Boston Water and Sewer take to ensure residents do not lose water or sewer services when they are experiencing financial hardships and need a manageable payment plan?

We do a lot of outreach calls. Our collections reps make calls daily on our letters we send out there, we basically state that on the bill We also have it on our website that we're willing to work with people. We're not trying to shut anyone's water off, we're trying to help. We have reasonable payment plans. We go upwards of like six years in order to help people pay back their Their water and sewer charges. We understand, again, we don't want to see anyone's water terminated. Everyone that we do send letters, we work hand in hand with them to outreach and we follow up with letters, phone calls consistently. To the day that they could be terminated, we follow one last time to try to reach out and that's our last resort.

Is it basically As long as the person, as long as homeowner is trying to make a goodwill effort to be engaged in a payment plan.

Yeah, within reason. Obviously we want to make them comfortable with paying but obviously you're going to continue to use water so we don't want you to just keep getting caught in the rears. You want to get caught up on what you're paying, what you owe So, something that's reasonable for both sides. Okay.

The message that I just want constituents to have is that communicate with the commission. No communication is sort of the worst If we don't hear from you, even if we're making outreach efforts, it's hard to assist. So the message that I just want to make sure the constituents here no matter and know things are hard but communicate with the commission's office. We have very able account services personnel that know how to help.

Okay, so that communication is critical From the homeowner to the water and sewer, is the communication that you reach out to the homeowners through the U.S. mail system or is it through telephone as well? Both, it's both. What are the challenges if it relates to... I represent a large Cantonese-speaking community Large Spanish-speaking community as well. How do we communicate with people that may not speak English as the first language?

One, I'll say that with regard to The programs that we have, we place ads in local papers in multiple languages. I may even have some copies here but just so people will have the awareness And the other is that when people call in or need to communicate with us, I can identify what the language is. Try to have someone on staff that can assist with that.

OK.

Either in real time or with an immediate callback. So language should not be a barrier for obtaining our services or any assistance that they need.

And then when I, as you probably know, I go to a lot of community events. I do see the Water and Sewer team That's at community events, and they have a table and brochures. And the people there are very professional, very friendly as are the age strong people as well. But is that an opportunity for residents if they have a question about their bill, can they ask the water and sewer team at a cookout event that they might see them at?

Yeah. 100%. If it's an event where we actually have either account services staff or other staff that might have access to the information, they will respond immediately. But if not, we'll get that contact information and respond as quickly as possible. You know, we go back to the office and look up their account information so that we can have an accurate response. But whenever we're at a table event and you have Boston Water and Sewer Commission staff there, people... We want people to come up. That's the time to come out and ask particular questions. And we'll try to get back to them as soon as possible, so we welcome that.

Okay. Are there any challenges or are there any opportunities to make the application process easier for the senior or the person with disabilities. Make it easier for them to complete the application, or have you noticed or are you aware of Residents having a difficult time completing an application.

It's interesting you should ask that question. The commissioner and I were just recently at an event, and the commissioner brought The gentleman just was reticent. to sharing his information. And so I guess I would like to convey to seniors or those who may be eligible for some of our programs, we understand You know, the need for protecting their information. But we're here to help. And so if we were fortunately able to help this individual by talking with them and so that's why I do agree We are seen out in the community at any event.

This event happened to be a coffee hour, but any of our events, the representatives who are there are there to help. And so we get the information. I was able to go back to the office and find some details about this gentleman's information, and it seems like we could help him out. take advantages of these services. We understand, but we want to share to the public that we are sensitive and we're confidential with their information but we're gathering it simply to help them with these services.

Thank you Dolores. Emily, what are some of the steps that your office is taking Educate seniors about this program.

Sure, sure. So I think that... It's a great benefit because there are no income guidelines. A lot of times, a lot of the benefits that are out there have very strict income guidelines and folks may not be eligible for those benefits but they still are having trouble making ends meet. because of the flexibility of this benefit it is something that we talk to people about all the time when we're out in the community whether we are tabling at an event or whether we're just in conversation with people as we're out in the community. We do, in terms of the clinics that we host across the city, we make sure that we invite Water and Sewer to be a part of that.

But even if they're not there in person, when we're tabling out at something in the community, we do speak to the benefit just to make sure that people understand it We also place information about the benefit in our seniority magazine, which we print 15,000 copies of for each of the printings. and then actually have an online following as well. And we make sure more and more of our older residents, when you're talking about people 55 and over You know, it's a significant number of people and a lot of folks are on social media. So we also make sure that we put some of this information on social as well.

So I think the way we think about outreach is making sure that we have outreach methods for people that like to get their information face-to-face. That we have outreach methods for people that like to get their information on a flyer and that we have out reach methods for folks that get their info by social media.

Okay, thank you Emily Beyond the existing discount and payment plans, what additional resources or assistance programs are available to residents who are struggling to afford their water and sewer bills? And how could water and improve awareness of these programs?

Depending on what the need is, we have a variety of programs that homeowners especially seniors could participate. Certainly, we have a lead replacement program if the property owner has A lead service line, which is the line that goes from the meter to our water main that is led. We will go out take a look at it to confirm that its lead at no cost and and we will replace it at no cost. We also have programs if people find themselves in a situation where they have a sewer lateral that might need to be repaired, that we provide assistance up to $8,000 towards that program which you know will go a long way towards making those repairs.

So we have like the The pamphlet that you're looking at has a number of the programs that we have that will assist homeowners. some of the costs of being a homeowner that happened unexpectedly and planned.

Thank you, Dolores.

And Councilor I'll just add to that one of the ways we get our referrals is through All city departments like water and sewer. So if there was somebody that water and sewers screening for all of their benefits, I'm going to take

A minute to read some of this into the record. But before I do that, could I just ask... So Nicholas, could i just get back to you? The term fully, was it fully disabled? Fully disabled. Is that a term established by law

It's in our enabling act, I just have to say. That's the language that we were created in 1977. I can actually probably give you Statute, I don't have it right here but I can give it to you. But that's the language when we talk about how we, the expectation that we can bill for our services etc., talks about that specific language of having the discretion to provide reduced discounts to individuals over 65 plus. Fully and fully disabled. And so that's exactly where that language comes from.

OK, the reason I asked is as I mentioned, I do a lot of work with the Disabled American Veterans at the national level and in the state level. But the term fully disabled, we don't use the term, fully disabled. We have a different term. Service Connected Disabled at 100% or service connected disabled at 90%. That doesn't necessarily mean Fully disabled. So there's a distinction between service-connected, disabled 100%. and fully disabled.

And the reason I bring that up, for the city of Boston assessing department they have a program for disabled veterans based on what their percentages, 50%, 60%. And you would bring your form down to the assessing department on the second floor mezzanine level there. Third floor. And when you provide that document to them, there's assessment on your property. I don't necessarily need an answer now but do you think at some point we could at least have a conversation about maybe including something in the language that might be more beneficial to service-connected Disabled Veterans at a certain percentage?

Yeah, we can definitely look into something like this. Obviously, this is something that was established years ago. We know things have changed just like with the trusts that are becoming more common in property ownership. That's excellent. Thank you very much. I'm just going to take

I just want to read this one into the record. It's financial assistance programs for qualified Homeowners, Boston Water and Sewer. And these are basically some of the programs that are eligible that I do want to highlight. I won't read it all but the no-cost private lead replacement incentive program This office is eligible Boston property owners lead service pipe replacement free of cost. The discount for elderly and fully disabled, another program Discount available for homeowners 65, that's what we're talking about or fully disabled. Would receive qualified customers receive a 30% discount on your water Sewer and Stormwater Bill.

Sewer Lateral Financial Assistance Program, I think you mentioned that as well Dolores? Yes. Basically, if you have a blocked, collapsed or leaking waste pipe, you may be eligible to participate in the sewer lateral program and being reimbursed. Sewer abatement Allows the installation of a Boston Water and Sewer approved separate meter that will calculate water usage not entering the water and sewer system. Leak up to owner program When a service pipe leaks, it is essential that it be fixed promptly. This program offers residential property owners the ability to contact Water and Soil to repair a water service pipe leak at a reasonable cost. The cost of the repair can be paid interest-free for up to 24 months.

Then we also mentioned the stormwater and green infrastructure assistance grant program Grants up to a certain dollar amount are available to property owners through the Green Stormwater Infrastructure Program. A credit up to 50%. So what is significant about the programs I highlighted? Those are an opportunity for residents to, if they qualify, Consider applying. Is that accurate and maybe it helps them out financially?

Yeah, I mean some of those things are expensive right if you have a broken sewer lateral line that could cost upwards of ten thousand dollars so you know getting up to eight thousand dollars back it's Thank you for joining us. We have a couple thousand left, I believe. Around 88,000 accounts were almost fully transferred over from lead. Thank you for watching. New Pipes, obviously those are all beneficial especially in older homes. So those are some of the programs again.

So over the years I've worked with elderly people that are homeowners, retired, fixed income. And if there's an infrastructure issue for them they have a pipe leaking What is the recommendation for that elderly person to work with your team to get it fixed, knowing it could cost some money? Or maybe it doesn't cost money. But what are your thoughts?

So we also work with the city of Boston on plumbing. I mean, you have the gentleman we deal with so because obviously, you know, we don't touch the pipes inside the house. Obviously it's a line that's going into the property itself But we work closely with the city when we talk to elders on the phone because sometimes they don't know pipes are leaking, hot water tanks are leaking. So we work hand in hand. Darlene's team is great with kind of talking the elders through it. You know, you don't just want to say go get a plumber because especially if they're elderly, plumbers can take advantage of them. They don't know exactly what's going on. But something simple as a toilet, a running toilet is a huge issue to run up your water bill. So we try to educate elderly when we have them on the phone. John Lean's team is great at doing that and we also again work hand in hand with the city Work with Age Strong to have maybe someone from their group go out to the property itself, kind of investigate it and maybe at a minimal cost.

So if there's a leaking toilet that is you know I like to I want to use for our seniors. But if there's a leaking toilet at one of our, at an apartment or house for senior what should a senior do?

Get it fixed right away, call us right away. What I'll also say as Darlene's team do is we are able to read your meters as long as they're working correctly. They call into us every hour and So we constantly are trying to reach out to customers and let them know that their consumption has risen. And again, it's communicating. We can call you but you've got to answer the phone. We could send letters but you gotta respond to them If they just ignore the situation, this is where we get into trouble with their water bills and they kind of get behind. So the key is give us a call if we're reaching out to you it's for your benefit and that's what I, you know, don't be scared of our phone call. We're trying to call there to help you. We do a lot of outreach. And then we need to stop the problem in order to help them. You know, we can't help with the cost unless the issue is stopped. Right.

And for things inside the envelope of the House, Councilor, folks can call 311 also and get connected to the Senior Home Repair Program run by the Mayor's Office of Housing They can call Water and Sewer, and Darlene's team can connect them over. So I think no wrong door, but Water and Sewer, 311 directly to Senior Home Repair, whatever way people get in Can you, Nichols can you tell from the meter

If there is a leak in the house based on how much water is being used?

So we'd go on past data, right? We'd have to see what the issue is. Just because your consumption goes up doesn't mean you have a leak. It can mean people are on vacation for a month and they came back. Consumption fluctuates, right ? We have what they average typically, obviously summertime depending on the type of household it is. If you use more water in the summer time watering your lawn So those can spike in things, but we can see how the projectory of the water goes. We can look at a graph and see if they're using this much, if there's consumption overnight Typically, that would indicate people are typically sleeping at night. So if there's consumption of gallons of water being used, why is that the case? We have things set up. Obviously we can't monitor 88,000 accounts every minute of the day but we have reports that run, that were able to kind of target the ones that we see consumption spikes and we reach out to those customers. Customers can monitor their usage online through our CSS portal as well and get their daily consumption.

Okay, can you notice at night time or is there an alert from the media if there's An excessive amount of water that's being used at an elderly house, say from midnight to 8 o'clock in the morning.

We can see that, but we don't have alerts that trigger it. There's technology out there that allows that. That again would be up to the customer allowing them to turn that notification on through text message and things like that. There's definitely technology that's trending in that direction. We're kind of through a feeling out process to see Are all meters now

Inside or outside?

Most of them are inside. We do still have some meter pits there in front of the person's property, but we've tried to Get every meter inside because obviously due to weather and things like that, meters can freeze. They need to be protected. Meter pits can fill up with water. But we constantly are monitoring the shelf life of our meters. If we need to change them out, we obviously reach out to that. If the meter's not calling in to us, it doesn't mean the meter is not working. That's our MTU that may not be calling in and that's the transmitter that sends the reading to us so we may need to get into the property to get a reading because if we're not getting an actual reading we could be estimating your bill Again, we're trying to communicate. We're trying get in your property and you need to communicate back with us in order to set those things up.

And that meter determines how much Water you're using, but also how much the bill you might owe each month. Is that accurate?

Yep. So yeah, whatever your use, your consumption is how you build. We have like obviously a period of typically a 30-day period Is there anything attached to the meter that highlights potential

Infrastructure problems or challenges that a resident might experience.

No, I mean they could go read the meter themselves. You know, it's like a speedometer on a car. It just keeps registering and if it's spinning and you're not using water that may indicate We will direct customers sometimes to go look at the meter, right? If they know no water is being used and they see water spinning somehow that would indicate that something's going on with the property. It could be a toilet it could be A small pipe behind a wall. So there's little things that we obviously don't want to live with the property, but an account service specifically. We try to educate homeowners as little things they can do. But, you know, meters aren't always accessible for customers that are in basements They could be in a closet somewhere so we obviously safety but again, we don't live on the property. We know where the meter is located But we don' t know you know that the whole setup of the house they should have access to their own meter because we need access to it

In the media, and I like to do these meetings to educate the public as well. But the media should be in an accessible area that's safer Water and Soil Personnel to get to it without any hazards in the way. Is that accurate? Correct. And where would that meter be located, in the basement?

Typically, homes are structured differently. We typically in the front part of the house but we have older homes where water lines came in so there's a variation of things what makes sense It doesn't always happen, but it should be accessible. Typically basements or front closets and houses. And again there's only one per household.

I was just looking at this brochure It's in Chinese. And I do have a person on my staff that does speak Cantonese and Mandarin, but do you... My staff assistant is not here, Do you know what this one is about?

It's the same. It's just a version of, I believe that's the lead one. Oh. The no-cost private one? Yes.

Okay. The lead replacement incentive program? Okay.

So that's an example of we do provide the same brochures in different languages.

Yeah, no I appreciate that it's one of the biggest issues probably I've worked on in nine years is making sure that documents that are printed in English are also printed in Chinese and Spanish as well. So I want to thank you for doing that outreach.

I just want to add to the conversation that you were having, we do give out mail-out to customers what is called a water conservation kit That might help some seniors. In that kit is a shower head, which helps kind of a low flow shower head and as well we have some dye tabs Included in the kit that allows customers to put the dye in the toilet and see whether there's a leak. I'm sorry, that's one thing I didn't bring with me. Certainly contact our office.

Toilets are a serious thing that we try to educate, right? Because sometimes it could be a $5 part that you need to fix on your toilet but it's causing the water bill to be a couple hundred dollars because it's just ignoring it, It's something that, again, we always try to educate. But yeah the dye tabs are something that Dolores' team can mail out and it looks like a little sweet tie candy you put in the back of your toilet and the blue would flow into the bowl

Do you see old toilets or old sinks that are leaking? Do you many of them in older homes with seniors and that are not properly fixed or need infrastructure support. I mean, it's a variation. I don't know if we have an exact number of...

It's usually not the age of the toilet. It's the guts inside of it. The stopper and the... The flush valve. It's usually those things is what's going to cause you the problem, not necessarily your toilet so you can go to Home Depot or Lowe's and get the inserts and replace that versus replacing your whole toilet

So when people have, they're using their running water. And Water and Sewer monitors the The water, or test the water for what? Is that accurate?

We, yes. I mean obviously Dolores was part of that team as well. We go out, obviously a lot of lead has been replaced but we're mandated to have water levels tested, yes

I just want to make sure I heard the question. We test the pipes. The water that is distributed to all of our customers is distributed free of lead, so we're not testing water. We're testing the pipes to ensure that they are not lead. The issue is we don't want lead over time. You know, the residue and everything can get into the water. And that's when you have an issue. I just want to make sure I heard your question.

No, that's good. So how are we testing the pipes?

It's a simple in-person test. It's basically lightly can tell whether the pipe is copper or lead Silver, or copper like a penny basically. So once someone comes out to the house and they'll just go into wherever the meter is and they will go to where our pipe is attached to the meter Light Scratch, and it takes five minutes basically. And they can make that determination. We have an inspector come out regularly.

Yeah, they can contact us if there's a question in it because we do send letters out. and we can obviously set up an appointment to come on tests to make sure everything's okay.

Right, so what I'll say is they don't have to go to Home Depot and get kits that are out there and things like that. We're very happy to just come out and take care of that at no cost. because we ultimately, if we want to find any lead service pipe that's in a home. So we wanna know that information.

How would a senior know if they have, if they potentially have a lead pipe?

It's really by the inspection.

Okay.

Whether it's from us or from them or from their relative because it's a simple test you know but That's really how one would know.

Now, how often does the water and sewer go out to test the meters? Do they test meters for any reason like Periodically, once a year, once every two years?

Just larger meters. Typically a residential property we don't test unless a customer requested it that they thought was inaccurate and if it comes back as accurate they're actually charged for the meter because we have to pay for it but we typically the shelf life is up to 20 years, but we're constantly on top of it replacing them when need be. Again, we do monitor them, but they are typically five eighths meters. We don't test unless it's requested or if the meter is broken. Once we replace the meter, we actually take the meter back to our building and test it in-house too just to make sure it was working properly when it was installed.

Well, I have a couple of absence letters. I was going to read them into the record before I give you an opportunity to offer closing remarks But I do want to read a couple letters into the record. This is from City Councilor Enrique Pepén, Dear Chair Flynn, Mr. Clerk, council colleagues I regret to inform you that I am unable to attend this morning's Committee on City Services hearing on docket 0932. I will follow up with additional questions upon reviewing my staff's notes and watching the recording. Please do not hesitate to contact my staff with any questions. Sincerely, Enrique Pepén The next one is from Councillor Murphy Absence letter.

I want to thank the chair for this important hearing, just skimming over it with the cost of living Continuing to place significant pressure on so many residents, it is important that we explore every option to provide meaningful savings and ensure that available discounts assistance programs are accessible to those who need them. I appreciate the opportunity for residents, advocates, representatives in the Water and Soil Commission to provide information and testimony. And it continues, but I want to say thank you to Councilor Murphy and to Council of Pepén for letting me know about their absence.

Before I conclude, I do want to give Commissioner Shea and Dolores an opportunity if you'd like to offer closing remarks. or anyone else here that wants to offer closing remarks.

Sure, I would just say grateful for being able to educate folks at this hearing and if there's anything that people need Please feel free to reach out.

Yes, and I would say glad to have this opportunity to share this information. If anyone has any questions they can certainly call our offices at Boston Water and Sewer Commission 617-989-7800, especially if they're interested in a discount. And I wanted to add that you can, in addition to applying for your discount by mail or download Loading the PDF, we also have it digitally so individuals can apply online. So any of these programs that we discussed today you can certainly call our offices and we're happy to share.

Dolores, one final question. If a senior participated in this program or a person with disabilities fully disabled participated Do they have to submit an application each year or is one time enough and that will cover them for life basically? Yes, one time. One time and that covers you for life?

Yes.

That's great.

Yeah, we don't currently make them recertify especially with elderly. We're trying to be as flexible as possible. but sometimes that could go the wrong way because of, you know, the customer doesn't live there anymore. We need to have updated records, but we're here to help the elderly as best we can. We're constantly trying to outreach. As we said, we have 88 thousand customers 11,000 are currently receiving the discount. So we're attacking as much as meaning 88,000 total in city not elderly. 11, 000 of those are receiving the discounts. We're constantly outreaching but again Communication, communicate back with us. We're going to work with you. The application is one page. It's very simple to fill out. We can look at the registry IDs to confirm that you're the owner so we work with you. You don't need a lot of homework, we just need a copy of your license and ID Do you need to show your license before you get the application or is the application

We need to verify. So you can upload it online, but again I don't want the elderly to feel secure with that. But we're willing to work with you if it's a different type of circumstance. We're here to help any way we can.

Okay. Well, I want to say thank you to the Boston Water and Soil Commission. I want I want to say thank you to all of the panelists for being here, to Dolores, to Darlene, to Nicholas and to Emily. The important work you're doing. I wanted to call this hearing to give an opportunity basically as a public awareness campaign to inform residents that there are a lot of good programs out there that they might be interested in and could benefit from. Especially during these challenging financial times. And I'm going to try to provide some information over social media about today's hearing, but I do want to give the opportunity for

residents to listen and hear and learn about this program through cable television. So I respect the work that you're doing, I respect that you came here and provided very good information that's helpful to the public and I want to say thank you to you and your team for the work you're doing supporting our seniors, supporting our persons with disabilities and providing a good quality Service to the Presidents of Boston. On this docket, 0932 in order for a hearing to discuss Discounts for Seniors and Persons with Disabilities by the Boston Water and Soil Commission. This meeting is adjourned. I want to say thank you to City Council Central staff for being here. They do an outstanding job as well. This meeting is adjourned, thank you