Hope you voted NO on the Override

I don't expect much from BOA members regarding any real reform measures regarding water and sewer policies. Above poster is right. The BOA members will play opossum. Stay quiet, undetected and act dead is the usual MO. But the Aldermen who had challengers and barely won a seat should pay attention! The voters have had enough with the lack of transparency and games played by city employees and elected officials. It's our tax money and it should be spent with open accountability.

Health benefits for DPW water department officials and the Mayor's assistant (Brigid) were paid out of our water bills. "Finding money anywhere you can" by cooking the books, putting out fuzzy math as facts and shifting budget items to departments which do not reflect true costs is illegal. The fire and police stations are horrendous, unsafe and should be demolished ASAP. The schools are mediocre at best. It does take money to get things done. But if the money is limited then choices must be made and certain things eliminated. My income is average and my bills continue to rise. A tight budget forces my family to cut out extras. We eat out less, buy fewer new clothes and will not go away on vacation for the first time since we have had our children. We are not complaining. We are very grateful for what we have. We are responsible, however. The City must also be responsible. Proposition 2.5 may be unrealistic in your opinion, "GROW UP" but it is the law.

"Grow Up" must be one of the delusional and entitled 30 somethings who expect they can have whatever they want when they want it. Life doesn't work that way. It isn't all about you and what you think is best.

If the price of water isn't important, that it follows that the price of oil and gas aren't important, the price of food isn't important, the price of health care isn't important, ad infinitum.

A three and a half million dollar surplus came from permit fees? In what galaxy do you spend most of your time?

It is far better to remain silent and be thought an idiot than to open your mouth and confirm it.

I just gasped and cried when opening my water bill. Melrose never had a water ban this summer but I restricted our water use myself and my bill is over $1,000 I cannot believe this is for 3 months. What is going on? Why do some residents who own homes in this town only pay $50-100 Is there anyway someone can check the bills for entire city and see why the discrepancy. Obviously something is wrong. Why is this being ignored. Is this the case all over the city. Unfair. I am actually sick to my stomach looking at my bill.

I know opening a bill like that must be scary, but don't worry.

Don't pay it. No matter what people say about the water bills here, they are not $1000 per quarter. It is definitely and obviously a mistake.

Call city hall and have them do a reread on your meter. You'll be fine. Promise.

No you are incorrect. Mine is $900 and had it checked. Actual read not estimate. It is 900 !

What is yours normally? Mine always roughly $200-250 and I haven't seen any large jumps.

I would take that bill as an opportunity to monitor your usage more carefully. Perhaps a leak some where?

All these citizens now shocked at their water bills were sadly missing during all the BOA meetings where Gerry Mroz and Phil Taymor (fortunately no relation to CT) spoke so eloquently this past spring and summer about the city's ridiculous and unsustainable Water and Sewer billing practices. They were also missing at last night's BOA meeting when a Water/Sewer bond was voted on. These same taxpayer citizens are wringing their hands on the FB Community page and wondering how their bills could possibly have escalated so dramatically, in some cases exceeding mortgage bills. Go back and read through the postings here and then on the city IQM2 meeting portal, and you can find truly expert analyses of the situation by Mr. Mroz and poignant statements and brilliant letters by both him and Mr. Taymor. The BOA chose to accept the mayor's "experts" on this, and their bogus "process," instead of demanding immediate and legitimate corrective action, starting with a return to a Flat Rate billing instead of the legally indefensible Tiered Rate structure and Retroactive Billing. The public chose MZ instead of Dr. LaRock as its new alderman. JD promised to join with Monica and Don to correct the heinous Water and Sewer situation; JD has the maturity, the credentials (in spades) and courage to have made a huge difference (the public gets what it deserves now). The public chose to allow the mayor's oily CFO to call MM "ignorant" and "disgusting" in a public meeting when she called for appropriate accountability about these W&S issues last November. The public chose to slumber and "trust" its officials. They prefer their provincial attitudes, lazy, incompetent and uninformed officials, and burying their collective heads in the sand. Now many residents are shocked and horrified at their bills.

(Note: these same citizens--and BOA--chose to look the other way at egregious violations of federal laws by school administration, violations that are now costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars--millions over the long haul--in legal costs and remediations, none of which are being disclosed to the public. The community chose to look the other way when a rapist was savaging our children for 14 years (!) right under everyone's noses in the center of the city at the Y, and then to compound the sins, wall around to support the officials who let it all happen, instead of taking responsibility for the horror to make sure it would never happen again. And then they wonder why things are so bad....)

Melrose citizens are getting the governance they deserve by virtue of their continued support of officials who are doing them wrong. Maybe some will finally start to see the light now that it's gotten very personal and personally very costly. Sadly it's gotten to be predictable that Melrose citizens will not as a rule (with a few notable brave exceptions) rise up when the basic civil rights of children or staff are being trampled, as when overt racism has been allowed by school officials who have gone on to reap fat paychecks and golden parachutes after documented and egregious failures instead of being shown the door and some fat lawsuits directed at them personally, as should have happened and would have in more caring communities. Now that the bills are coming due in many citizens' mailboxes, there is some noise about that, but so far no one crying about their bills has connected the dots to a broken system of government in this community or concurrently their own failures as citizens. Grow up and demand a mature reckoning of all these issues. Otherwise whine away and don't bother to think or question anything. Go get your nails done, do a few more reps at the gym, play another round of golf, have another drink. Sure, every toilet in Melrose is leaking!

Look at posts in Melrose Communtiy Facebook page, must be one big leak in this city !

My recent bill was $234.00...which is about what it normally is. We are two old people who basically stay at home - guess I can't complain.

OK "Pay Attention" - point well made. Most people in the City didn't focus on the water issue because it didn't affect them personally.

Now it does. So what do you recommend we do?

O.k...now that we have your attention - SHOW UP AT BOA MEETINGS AND COMPLAIN! Can it be any simpler? All these alderman, excuse me, and alderwomen, hate to hear the public complain about what they do - they will only make changes when the voices get louder!

How did so many folks miss the fact that those pigs MBMM & GI went to Europe together for three weeks this spring during the water debate? Remember, as MBMM is telling everyone, it's NOT the BOA anymore, it's the 'city council.'

The water bills are due. The taxes are due. I'm paying twice what I was not that long ago. I don't want to move but can't afford it here anymore.

I don't think single family homeowners have a legitimate beef with the water rates. The apartment buildings and condominium owners that are single metered building do have an issue. Charging these buildings at higher tiers is ridiculous. However, if their problem gets solved the rates for the single family homes will go up. Water is expensive. That's an MWRA issue and a national issue...however, at least in my house, I bet we spend as much on bottled water and keeping our lawn green that we do for household water for cooking, cleaning, showers, household chores etc. Over the next 50 years water shortages are going to continue to be an issue. I actually think we are fortunate to have access to clean MWRA water. I've been around the country and well water or public water in some places is not good. I'll pay the extra few bucks for the MWRA.

I hear MWRA charges are cheap for the water. It's the Melrose government waste and obscene markup that makes us about the highest water bills in the country.

I'm not a fan of MBMM and GI because they don't have any independent thoughts. They blindly accept everything that comes out of the second floor ego trip.

I am disturbed, however, with your characterisation of them in your post. You sound a little like Donald Trump in doing that and it diminishes your otherwise-legitimate characterisation of them.

I know we absorb city watering usage but does this include Melrose Wakefield Hospital? I know they do not pay taxes on the property but what about water usage?

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The Hospital does give money to the city in lieu of taxes - not sure how much but I think that it is 10's of thousands of dollars. They do pay for the water they use at the higher rate since they use large quantities of it.

Seems to me I remember seeing somewhere that MWH either stopped or hugely reduced it's payment in lieu of taxes. Am I incorrect?

Remember when there were earlier discussions this year of the MWRA rates & somehow Melrose was paying more than anywhere except Milton? There was a chart that made its way to the Facebook community group showing this.

Making excuses and either blaming or congratulating the MWRA doesn't cut it. The other MWRA communities do not pay what we pay in Melrose.

Residents, as noted above, pay for city usage in their water bills as well. Factored in the rates. There was a lot of unnecessary city watering this summer. Those city sprinklers should have been shut down! Some brown grass or YOU paying 1K for the quarter? I know where I stand.

JD LaRock had an explanation for why the usage was so high but again no one including myself paid enough attention.

I believe they used to help pay for school nurses then stopped. I am not sure about taxes but remember reading something.

I don't read anything too bad in Insider's post about Infurna & Margolis. Sounds like they took a 3 week trip to Europe during the time the government was in session. Was there a better time for them to go? Could they attend the water debates via Skype? At least in part?

If they went to Europe, it's ok to note that they were not present representing their wards. Sounds irresponsible to me.

+ Calling them pigs wasn't necessary but the rest is valid.

JD Larock worked with Gerry Mroz to learn about the Water/Sewer fiasco. Gerry has presented his extremely cogent explanations many times to the BOA, some of them in writing and included in the BOA meeting materials. What he has said stands as accurate and factual. What the BOA has approved is more of the same baloney that the 2nd floor know-nothings have come up with. It's outrageous and wrong. It's not that hard to find out the truth.

Melrose is paying far more for its water and sewer charges than most of the Southwestern states. It's obscene, it's wrong, and Melrose is idiotic in its blind support of officials who are screwing over the entire population here.