Letter to the Editor: Proposed Chester Water Dept. opt-out fee is a punitive charge

I am writing to strongly oppose Councilman Tom Becker’s proposed $20-per-quarter opt-out fee for residents who are served by the Chester Water Department who choose not to have cellular endpoints installed on their water meters.

This fee is not a legitimate cost-recovery measure. It is simply a punitive charge aimed at the small number of Chester residents who have legitimate health or privacy concerns about these devices. For decades the town has successfully read water meters manually without any apparent difficulty.

Each reading takes less than a minute, and since only a small fraction of households plan to opt out, the additional workload would be negligible.

Furthermore, residents who opt out actually save the town money. By declining the cellular endpoint, each household spares the town the full $200 cost of the device plus the labor to install it. Those who opt out are therefore providing a clear financial benefit to the town, not imposing a burden.

If the council insists on a strict financial tit-for-tat, then opt-out residents should receive credit for the $200+ labor in costs they have saved the town and should not be charged any fee for at least four years.

In reality, residents who opt out are reducing municipal expenses while simply exercising their right to protect their health and privacy. They should not be penalized with an $80 annual fee for doing so.

I urge the Chester Town Council to reject Councilman Becker’s proposed opt-out fee and to respect the reasonable concerns of all residents.

Christine Maurer
Chester