Great Barrington receives $50,000 from state to evaluate potential purchase of Housatonic Water Works

Great Barrington — On October 22, State Rep. Leigh Davis (D — 3rd Berkshire District) announced that she had secured $50,000 in state funding to help the town address the ongoing crisis with Housatonic Water Works. On Monday, November 9, the Selectboard unanimously approved the funding, which will pay the town’s required local match for a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Predevelopment Planning Grant. According to Town Manager Liz Hartsgrove, the funding will support the town’s efforts to evaluate a possible acquisition of the long-troubled company and identify long-term solutions to the water system’s infrastructure challenges. In August 2021, consultants from DPC Engineering issued a report to the town stating that the utility had a negative value of $25.2 million, with the cost of needed capital improvements pegged at $31 million.

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