Who we are: Residents, businesses, municipal facilities and organizations that own property in West Barnstable are part of the West Barnstable Fire District (WBFD, map shown below). As such, they elect three members to its Board of Water Commissioners, for staggered, three-year terms, at the annual WBFD meetings that are held during April. Water Commissioners are volunteers. Water Commissioners and their Terms Brian Paradise, Chair... (2024-2027) .......paradibr@gmail.com Kristine Clark, Clerk..... (2023-2026) ........kris@meganet.net Lisa Hendrickson...........(2022-2024) ........ljknorge3@gmail.com Figure 1. Map showing the boundaries of the West Barnstable Fire District. (See the Fire District Maps page.) Board of Water Commissioners’ Authority: The WBFD and its Board of Water Commissioners were established by State Acts in 1949 and 1966, respectively. Under MGL Ch. 40 Sect. 39E, Boards of Water Commissioners are granted State authority to manage, improve and control waters and property taken, acquired, erected or constructed for a public water supply system. There is currently no public water supply system in the West Barnstable Fire District to serve our fire department and taxpayers. Instead, residents and business owners are responsible for maintaining their own private wells. They are also subject to a tax that is paid to support the District’s Fire Department, professional services requested by the Water Commissioners to carry out their duties, and for operation of the Prudential Committee. What we do: Private water supply wells, unlike public water supply wells, are not protected by MA laws and regulations; the latter which undergo quarterly water quality testing and any types of treatment that might be necessary. As your Water Commissioners, one of our duties is to preserve and protect the sole-source aquifer that supplies water to our private and business water supply wells in the WBFD. This protection extends to the wetlands and surface water bodies that are often functionally connected to the aquifer. We also support the purchase of conservation land within the WBFD, to increase watershed and aquifer protection from pollution and impacts from drought conditions like those we have experienced more frequently in recent years. By doing so now, while there are still some undeveloped land parcels available within the District, we will be increasing the protection and sustainability of “clean” water supply sources. Several examples of our ongoing work involve: supporting Town purchases of conservation land for water supply protection; disseminating information to you regarding water quality testing of your water supply wells and methods to protect them from pollution; posting of household hazardous waste disposal dates at the Barnstable Transfer Station; and keeping WB residents informed about the Town’s current search for a new public water supply with one of the potential sites being located in our District within the Bridge Creek Conservation Area (see Current News below). When we meet: The Water Commission generally meets during the first Tuesday of the month, in the West Barnstable Community Building. We also hold interim meetings when required to address time-sensitive issues. Our meeting dates and times are posted under the headings “Departments/Town Clerk/Agenda Notices” on the Town’s website:

Town of Barnstable Website

All of our meetings are open to the public. If you have a topic that you would like us to add to our meeting agenda, please contact our chairperson or Clerk, whose email addresses are listed above. Current News Will the Town’s new water supply well be located in West Barnstable?

The Town of Barnstable is in the process of selecting sites for a second round of pump tests as part of their search for a new municipal water supply source for Hyannis. The Town will select from the two most productive well sites tested to-date, one of which is located in our Fire/Water District within the Bridge Creek Conservation Area. Figure 2. Locations of the Town of Barnstable’s four test wells in the Bridge Creek Conservation Area in West Barnstable. As a result of the Town’s well testing work in the Bridge Creek Conservation Area, our Board meetings have been focused on this issue. We have been engaged with the Barnstable Department of Public Works personnel who are overseeing the Contractor, Weston and Sampson, that is conducting the well pump test work. DPW staffs have delivered presentations about their project updates and have kindly answered our questions and those of the public at several of our Board meetings. If you are interested in learning more about this project, the report is located on the Town’s website and can be found by entering the name of the report “Source Exploration Report (Volume I)” in the Search bar. We will remain focused on this topic in the near future and hope to hear from you at one or more of our subsequent Board meetings.