NORWALK, Conn. —
Norwalk leaders minding the City’s budgetary Ps and Qs have a new item on their minds: a 240% increase in fire hydrant “rental fees.”
A request for a $71,278 budget transfer to cover a hydrant rental fee recently had Board of Estimate and Taxation Chairman Ed Camacho objecting to “being held hostage” by the water company. And the $71,278 wasn’t the full amount required to cover the charge, it was just the difference between what the Norwalk Fire Department had in its account and what was owed to South Norwalk Electric and Water (SNEW) for the hydrant usage.
Norwalk Fire Chief Gino Gatto explained that the department has access to 886 hydrants owned by the First Taxing District and 589 owned by SNEW. The First District charges $200 a hydrant and SNEW was raising its rate from $84 to $200 because, “I’m sure they don’t want to feel left out.”