Whitman DPW Board Waives Water Fee, Rejects Pool Abatement at November Meeting

WHITMAN -- November 12, 2025, Whitman's Board of Public Works Commissioners voted unanimously to waive a $3,485 water connection fee for South Avenue property owner Steven Egan, whose lateral was never tied into the town's replacement water main during a reconstruction project roughly a decade ago. Commissioner Kevin Clary went on record opposing the Select Board's decision to set the 2026 annual trash fee at $435, $18 above the $417 figure the department calculated as covering all direct costs, and the board voted to send a letter of disagreement to the Select Board, though it acknowledged it has no authority over fee-setting. The board unanimously approved the 2026 trash commitment at $2,006,655, covering approximately 4,613 households. The board also approved first- and third-year contractual step raises for employees Nicholas Malik and Anthony Wilson Sikula, denied a $2.05 sewer abatement requested by an 8 Fox Hill Run resident who filled a swimming pool, citing precedent, and tabled a running-toilet abatement from 22 Churchill Ave. pending a dollar-amount analysis.