Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. The inhabitants of the town of Mashpee, liable to taxation in said town and residing in the territory comprised within the following boundary lines, to wit: All land within the territorial limits of the town of Mashpee, except those lands lying east and south of the following line:

Beginning in Waquoit Bay, thence northerly along the center of Great River to Abigail's Brook;

Thence easterly along the center of Abigail's Brook to the western property line of the 1985 Mashpee Assessors' Map 115, Plot 11;

Thence northerly along the western property lines of Map 115, Plots 11 and 4, and across Amy Brown Road to the southern property line of Map 109, Plot 6;

Thence westerly and northerly along the southern and western property lines of Map 109, Plot 6 to Red Brook Road;

Thence easterly along the south side line of Red Brook Road to the western property line of Map 110, Plot 71;

Thence south along the western property lines of Map 110, Plots 71 and 70;

Thence easterly along the southern property lines of Map 110, Plots 70, 71 and 67 to Sipps Road;

Thence northwesterly along the southern property line of Map 110, Plot 78;

Thence northeasterly along the western property lines of Map 110, Plots 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84 and 59;

Thence northwesterly to the intersection of the western property line of Map 104, Plot 8 and the north side line of Red Brook Road;

Thence northerly and easterly along the western and northern property lines of Map 104, Plot 8 to the west side line of Great Neck Road South;

Thence northerly along the west side line of Great Neck Road South to the southern property line of Map 104, Plot 10;

Thence westerly and northerly along the southern and western property lines of Map 104, Plot 10 and northerly across Blue Castle Drive;

Thence easterly along the north side line of Blue Castle Drive to the western property line of Map 104, Plot 24;

Thence northerly and easterly along the western and northern property lines of Map 104, Plot 24 to the western property line of Map 104, Plot 25;

Thence northerly along the western property lines of Map 104, Plots 25, 26, 27 and 28 to the southern property line of Map 104, Plot 29;

Thence westerly and northerly along the southern and western property lines of Map 104, Plot 29 across B Street to the western property line of Map 99, Plot 33;

Thence northerly along the western property line of Map 99, Plot 33 to the southern property line of Map 99, Plot 34;

Thence westerly and northerly along the southern and western property lines of Map 99, Plot 34 to the southern property line of Map 99, Plot 35;

Thence westerly and northerly along the southern and western property lines of Map 99, Plot 35 to the southern property line of Map 99, Plot 37;

Thence westerly along the southern property lines of Map 99, Plot 37 and Map 95, Plot 7 (the former Holland Mill Road) to the western property line of Map 95, Plot 7;

Thence northerly and easterly along the western and northern property lines of Map 95, Plot 7 to the point of intersection of the northern property line of Map 95, Plot 7 with the western property line of Map 95, Plot 6;

Thence northerly along the western property lines of Map 95, Plots 6 and 5 to the southern property line of Map 95, Plot 4;

Thence westerly along the southern property line of Map 95, Plot 4 to Great Hay Road;

Thence northerly along the east side line of Great Hay Road to the southern property line of Map 89, Plot 1;

Thence easterly along the southern property line of Map 89, Plot to the west side line of Great Neck Road South;

Thence northerly along the west side line of Great Neck Road South to the southern property line of Map 81, Plot 20;

Thence westerly, northerly and easterly along the southern, western and northern property lines of Map 81, Plot 20 to the west side line of Great Neck Road South;

Thence northerly along the west side line of Great Neck Road South to the southern property line of Map 74, Plot 13;

Thence northwesterly along the southern property line of Map 74, Plot 13 to Falmouth Road (State Route 28);

Thence northeasterly along the southeast side line of Falmouth Road to the Mashpee River;

Thence southerly along the Mashpee River to a point in Popponesset Bay at the Barnstable Town Line just north of Gooseberry Island;

And also excluding those parcels of land shown on the 1985 Mashpee Assessors' Maps as Map 74, Plots 19A, 19B, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24, Map 73, Plots 8, 9 and 10, and Map 67, Plot 38;

on the effective date of this act, shall constitute a water district and are hereby made a body corporate by the name of the Mashpee water district, hereinafter called the district, for the purpose of supplying themselves and others, for fair consideration, with water for the extinguishment of fires and for domestic and other purposes, with the power to lay water mains, establish a water distribution system, establish fountains and hydrants and to relocate and discontinue the same, regulate the use of such water and fix and collect rates to be paid therefor, construct and finance such water treatment works and facilities as may be necessary to deliver pure, healthful drinking water, assess and raise taxes as provided hereinafter for the payment of such services and for defraying the necessary expenses of carrying on the business of the district, subject to all general laws now or hereafter in force relating to such districts, except as otherwise provided herein. For these purposes, the district may seek, obtain and accept any available capital and operating funds from the commonwealth or the federal government or any authority or entity created by either of said governments and accept any donation or gift of capital, operating funds, land, easements, equipment or facilities from private sources. The district shall have power to prosecute and defend all actions relating to its property and affairs.

SECTION 2. For the aforesaid purposes the district, acting by and through its board of water commissioners, hereinafter provided for:

(a) may contract with any municipality, acting through its water department, or with any water company, or with any water district, for the purchase or sale of whatever water or waterworks facilities which may be required, authority to furnish or purchase the same being hereby granted, and may enter into such other contracts as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act, subject to district meeting appropriation of any necessary funds required to effectuate any purchase of waterworks facilities as aforesaid;

(b) may take by eminent domain under the provisions of chapter seventy-nine or chapter eighty A of the General Laws, or acquire, by lease, purchase, gift, or otherwise, and hold, the waters, or any portion thereof, of any pond, spring or stream, or of any groundwater sources of supply by means of driven, artesian or other wells, within the territorial limits of the town of Mashpee, or towns adjoining thereto, not already appropriated for the purposes of a public water supply by another governmental body, and the water and flowage rights connected with any such water sources; may take as aforesaid, or acquire by purchase or otherwise, and hold, all lands, rights of way and other easements necessary for collecting, storing, holding, purifying and preserving the purity of the water and for conveying the same to any part of the district; provided, that no source of water supply or lands necessary for preserving the quality of such water shall be so taken or used without first obtaining the advice and approval of the department of environmental quality engineering or any successor state agency, and that the location and arrangement of all dams, reservoirs, springs, wells, pumping, purification and filtration plants and such other works as may be necessary in carrying out the provisions of this act shall be subject to the approval of said department;

(c) may construct and maintain on the lands acquired and held under this act, proper dams, wells, springs, reservoirs, standpipes, tanks, pumping plants, buildings, fixtures and other structures, including the establishment and maintenance of purification works or systems, and may make excavations, procure and operate machinery and provide such other means and appliances, and do such other things as may be necessary for the establishment and maintenance of complete and effective water works; and for that purpose may construct pipe lines, wells and reservoirs, may establish pumping works, and may construct, lay, acquire and maintain aqueducts, conduits, pipes and other works under or over any land, water courses, railroads, railways, and public or other ways and along such ways, in said town, in such manner as not unnecessarily to obstruct the same;

(d) may, for the purpose of constructing, laying, maintaining, operating and repairing such aqueducts, conduits, pipes and other works, and for all other purposes of this act, dig up or raise and embank any such lands, highways or other ways in such manner as to cause the least hindrance to public travel on such ways; provided, that the manner in which all things are done upon any such way shall be subject to the direction of the appropriate governmental agency of the respective towns in which such lands, highways or other ways are located; and provided, further, that the district shall not enter upon, or construct or lay any conduit, pipe or other works within the location of any railroad corporation except at such time and in such manner as it may agree upon with such corporation or, in case of failure to so agree, as may be approved by the department of public utilities;

(e) may enter upon any lands for the purpose of water supply exploration, making surveys, test wells or pits and borings, or any of them, and may take or otherwise acquire the right to occupy temporarily any lands necessary for the construction of any work or for any other purpose authorized by this act;

(f) may charge a one time systems development charge to those applicants seeking to connect into the water supply system, which said funds shall be kept by the district treasurer in a separate account to be appropriated by a district meeting and applied, as needed, for the cost of acquisition or development of new well fields, storage and distribution systems, and the purchase of all related materials, equipment, labor, work and all other items associated therewith which will contribute to the betterment of the waterworks system;

(g) may from time to time sell such of the property of the district as shall, in the opinion of its board of water commissioners hereinafter provided for, be no longer useful in the conduct of the affairs of the district;

(h) may employ personnel and may engage architectural, engineering, accounting, management, legal, financial and environmental consulting and other professional services;

(i) may adopt rules and regulations governing the management of the waterworks and the use and consumption of water, the same to be not inconsistent with this act;

(j) may establish specific construction standards and specifications for the water distribution supply system; and

(k) may do all things necessary, convenient or desirable for carrying out the purposes of this act or the powers expressly granted or necessarily implied by this act.

SECTION 3. Any person sustaining damages on his property by any taking under this act or any other thing done under authority thereof may recover such damages from the district under chapter seventy-nine or said chapter eighty A of the General Laws; but the right to damages for the taking of any water, water right or water source, or for any injury thereto, shall not vest until water is actually withdrawn or diverted under authority of this act.

SECTION 4. The district, for the purpose of paying other necessary expenses and liabilities incurred under this act, other than expenses of maintenance and operation, may from time to time borrow such additional sums as may be necessary, not exceeding, in the aggregate, twenty million dollars and may issue bonds or notes thereof which shall bear on their face the words Mashpee Water District Loan, Act of 1987 and such other distinguishing designation as may be determined by said board of water commissioners, and each authorized issue shall constitute a separate loan and such loans shall be payable in not more than forty years from their dates, notwithstanding any other provision of law. The district may borrow from time to time such sums as may be necessary for the purposes of this act in anticipation of revenue. Indebtedness incurred under this act shall, except as otherwise provided herein, be subject to the provisions of chapter forty-four of the General Laws pertaining to such districts.

Each such borrowing and each such issue of bonds or notes shall constitute a separate loan, shall be authorized by the affirmative vote of not less than two-thirds of those present at an annual or special meeting of the district, and shall be upon the full faith and credit of the district. All bonds or notes issued under the provisions of this act shall be obligatory upon the district and its inhabitants and the property within the limits of the district according to the tenor and purport thereof. The district shall, at the time of authorizing said loan or loans, provide for the payment thereof as authorized hereunder, and, when a vote to that effect has been passed, a sum which, with available income derived from water rates, shall be sufficient to pay the annual expense of operating its waterworks and the interest as it accrues on the bonds or notes issued as aforesaid by the district, and to make such payments on the principal as may be required under this act, shall without further vote be assessed upon the district by the district assessors annually thereafter until the debt incurred by said loan or loans is extinguished.

SECTION 5. The district, acting by and through said board of water commissioners, shall, subject to the applicable provisions of law, fix just and equitable prices, charges, fees and rates for the use of water determined by the cost of producing the same and shall prescribe the time and manner of payment. The income of the waterworks shall be available for appropriation to defray all operating expenses, interest charges and payments on principal of any loan, as accruing upon any bonds or notes issued under authority of this act.

If there should be a net surplus remaining at the end of any fiscal year after the payment of all costs of operation, such net surplus may be appropriated by a district meeting for systems development costs as recommended by the board of water commissioners and in the absence of any such recommendation, shall be applied to pay costs of operation for the district for the succeeding fiscal year. Any systems development charge funds held in a separate account are to be excluded in the determination of net surplus.

The fiscal year of the district shall commence July first and end June thirtieth, or as otherwise provided in the by-laws of the district.

SECTION 6. If for any reason the revenues and available funds of the district, including revenues from prices, fees, charges and rates for the use of water as provided in section five, shall not be sufficient to pay the full cost of development and operation of the district, said district shall have power, by vote at a district meeting duly called by the water commissioners, to raise and appropriate by a district tax, beginning with fiscal year nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, sufficient funds to pay the full cost of development or operation of the district and promptly thereafter the clerk of the district shall send a certified copy of the vote to the district assessors, who shall assess the same on property within the district in the same manner in all respects in which town taxes are required by law to be assessed.

The assessors of the town of Mashpee shall be the district assessors and shall receive a salary for their services as shall be determined by the board of water commissioners. The assessment shall be committed to the district tax collector, who shall collect said tax in the manner provided by law for the collection of town taxes and who shall deposit the proceeds thereof with the district treasurer for the use and benefit of said district. The town tax collector shall be the district tax collector and shall receive a salary for services as shall be determined by the board of water commissioners. Any costs incurred by either the assessors or the tax collector of the town of Mashpee in performing services hereunder shall be paid for by the district. The district may collect interest on overdue taxes in the manner in which interest is authorized to be collected on town taxes. The manner of collection of district taxes shall be identical to the manner of collection of town taxes, including all provisions for the collection and enforcement of collection by liens, tax takings and foreclosures.

SECTION 7. Any personal property or real estate taken, purchased or acquired under this act, shall be managed, improved and controlled by the board of water commissioners hereinafter provided for, in such manner as they shall deem for the best interest of the district.

SECTION 8. Any meeting of the voters of the territory included within the boundaries set forth in section one to be held to accept this act, and any meeting of the voters of the district to be held prior to the election and qualification of a majority of the water commissioners, shall be called, on petition of ten or more legal voters therein, by a warrant from the selectmen of said town, directed to one of the petitioners, requiring him to give notice of the meeting by posting copies of the warrant in two or more public places in the district seven days at least before the time of the meeting. One of the selectmen shall preside at such meeting until a clerk is chosen and sworn, and the clerk shall preside until a moderator is chosen and sworn. At any meeting called hereunder prior to the acceptance of this act, after the choice of a clerk and moderator for the meeting, the question of the acceptance of this act shall be submitted to the voters, and if it is accepted by a majority of the voters present and voting thereon, it shall thereupon take effect and the meeting may then proceed to act on the other articles in the warrant. The board of voter registration of said town shall certify to the selectmen the voters eligible to participate in the meeting. After the election and qualification of a majority of the water commissioners as provided for hereafter, meetings of the district shall be called by warrant under their hands, unless some other method be provided by by-law or vote of the district. The board of voter registration of the town shall provide a list to the board of water commissioners, upon request, designating those voters eligible to vote at district meetings.

SECTION 9. The district shall, after the acceptance of this act as aforesaid, elect by ballot, either at the same meeting at which this act shall have been accepted, or thereafter, at a special meeting called for the purpose, three persons, inhabitants of and voters in the district, to hold office, one until the expiration of three years, one until the expiration of two years and one until the expiration of one year, from the day of the next succeeding annual district meeting, to constitute a board of water commissioners; and at every annual district meeting following such next succeeding annual district meeting one such commissioner shall be elected by ballot for the term of three years. The date of the next annual meeting shall be fixed by the by-laws of the district, but in no event shall it be later than fifteen months subsequent to the date on which the water commissioners were first elected. All the authority granted to the district by this act, except sections four and six, and not otherwise specifically provided for, shall be vested in said board of water commissioners, who shall be subject, however, to such instructions and by-laws, as the district may by vote impose. The district acting through its initial board of water commissioners, shall appoint, each for such term as it may determine, a clerk and a treasurer of the district, and such other officers and employees not specifically provided for in this act, as it may deem necessary and proper, and shall fix their compensation. The treasurer shall not be a member of the board of water commissioners and shall give bond to the district in such amounts as may be approved by said board with a surety company authorized to transact business in the commonwealth as surety. A majority of said water commissioners shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Any vacancy occurring in said board from any cause may be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term by the district at any legal meeting called for the purpose. No money shall be drawn from the treasury of the district on account of its waterworks except upon a written order of said water commissioners or a majority of them.

SECTION 10. The district, at any annual or special meeting, may adopt by-laws regulating the call of district meetings and the necessary quorum at any meeting and may adopt such other by-laws as are appropriate for the operation of the district. All district meetings shall be called pursuant to a warrant issued by the board of water commissioners. The procedure for the call of a meeting, publication of the warrant, and conduct of the meeting shall be as set forth in chapter thirty-nine of the General Laws, unless the by-laws adopted by the district otherwise provide. The by-laws of the district may allow for such other officers not provided for in this act as deemed necessary or proper.

SECTION 11. Whoever wilfully or wantonly corrupts, pollutes or diverts any water obtained or supplied under this act, or wilfully or wantonly injures any reservoir, well, standpipe, aqueduct, pipe or other property owned or used by the district for any of the purposes of this act, shall forfeit and pay to the district three times the amount of damages assessed therefor, to be recovered in an action of tort, and upon conviction of any of the above wilful or wanton acts shall be punished by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.

SECTION 12. Upon a petition in writing addressed to the board of water commissioners requesting that certain real estate, accurately described therein, located in said town or abutting on said district and not otherwise served by a public water supply, be included within the limits thereof, and signed by a majority of the owners of such real estate, said water commissioners shall cause a meeting of the district to be called, at which meeting the voters may vote on the question of including said real estate within the district.

If a majority of the voters present and voting thereon vote in the affirmative, the district clerk shall, within ten days, file with the town clerk of said town an attested copy of said petition and vote, and thereupon said real estate shall become and be part of the district and shall be holden under this act in the same manner and to the same extent as the real estate described in section one.

If land within the town of Mashpee is acquired by the district by purchase, gift, transfer or eminent domain, the district clerk shall, within ten days thereafter, file with the town clerk of said town an attested copy of the instrument of acquisition and thereupon said real estate shall become and be part of the district and shall be holden under this act in the same manner and to the same extent as the real estate described in section one.

SECTION 13. Nothing in this act shall authorize the district to supply water for domestic or other purposes to real estate being served with water by the High Wood Water Company, Inc., a private water company, or its assigns, on the effective date of this act, without first having acquired by purchase, gift, lease, contract or by eminent domain under the provisions of chapter seventy-nine or chapter eighty A of the General Laws, rights to or ownership of such of the properties of said High Wood Water Company, Inc., or its assigns, which are on said date located within that area included in the district and which are served by said High Wood Water Company, Inc. or its assigns. In case of any dispute by High Wood Water Company, Inc., or its assigns, as to any real estate included in the district defined in section one or as added under the provisions of section twelve, the department of public utilities, upon application of the district or of said High Wood Water Company, Inc., or its assigns, shall conduct a hearing and issue an order of determination to resolve the dispute.

SECTION 14. The district may, for the purpose of creating a stabilization fund, appropriate in any fiscal year an amount not exceeding ten per cent of the amount raised in the preceding fiscal year by taxation of real estate. Any interest accruing shall be added to and become a part of the fund. The stabilization fund may be appropriated at an annual meeting by a two-thirds vote for any purpose for which the district would be authorized to borrow money.

SECTION 15. The district assessors may create an overlay fund by adding to the amount to be assessed in accordance with section twenty-five of chapter fifty-nine of the General Laws.

SECTION 16. The district may, by vote at a district meeting, provide for the levy of special assessments to meet the whole or part of the cost thereafter incurred of laying pipes in public and private ways for the conveyance or distribution of water to its inhabitants, in accordance with the provisions of sections forty-two G, forty-two H, and forty-two I of chapter forty of the General Laws.

SECTION 17. Upon acceptance of this act by the district at a meeting held in accordance with the provisions of section eight and a subsequent majority vote at the same meeting or a later meeting, and upon majority vote of a duly called Mashpee town meeting authorizing the same, all assets, liabilities, contractual rights, leases and obligations of the existing water department of the town of Mashpee, shall be transferred to and assumed by the Mashpee Water District, and the existing water department of the town of Mashpee shall be dissolved and cease to exist, notwithstanding any prior Mashpee town meeting acceptance of general laws relating to water, water distribution systems, or in any way relating to the creation of a town of Mashpee water department, election of water commissioners, or any other provision of law to the contrary.

SECTION 18. Within one calendar year of acceptance of this act by district meeting and Mashpee town meeting, the water district shall reimburse to the town of Mashpee an amount not less than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars representing the costs paid and expended by the town of Mashpee for the planning, exploration and development of a water supply and distribution system and for the creation of the Mashpee water district. Indebtedness authorized by section four may be used for this purpose.

SECTION 19. This act shall take effect upon its passage.