Longmeadow's Select Board voted unanimously on Sept. 8 to back a state proposal that would reshape who controls the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission, the regional utility that supplies water and sewer service to roughly 250,000 people across the Lower Pioneer Valley. The board endorsed a letter supporting a plan from state Sen. Jacob Oliveira that would add suburban representatives to a board currently appointed entirely by Springfield's mayor.
The vote, reported by MassLive, came after Select Board Chair Dan Zwirko said other towns and communities have not had a seat at the table in commission decisions. Oliveira's proposal would expand the commission from three members, all appointed by Springfield's mayor, to a seven-member board, with four seats remaining Springfield appointees and three going to representatives chosen by a new regional advisory board. The plan would also give suburban towns a formal role in the commission's budgeting process for the first time.
Under the proposal, no single municipality could hold more than four seats on the commission, and the three advisory-board-selected commissioners would have to come from outside Springfield. Each town's vote on that advisory board would be weighted according to how much its residents paid into the system in fees the previous year. Longmeadow Town Manager Lyn N. Simmons drafted the letter the board endorsed, asking local legislators and Gov. Maura Healey to support Oliveira's bill, and she is sharing it with other communities to build momentum. The East Longmeadow Town Council voted unanimously in favor of the same Senate bill earlier this year, and Agawam's City Council unanimously endorsed a similar House bill back in 2025, as reported by MassLive.
Why Suburban Officials Say They're Paying Without a Voice
Agawam purchases its water from the commission while running its own local distribution system, according to the Town of Agawam. A 2025 Agawam council resolution noted the town buys $3.5 million worth of water from the commission without having a say in how it operates, MassLive reports. Agawam Mayor Christopher C. Johnson said water-purchase and sewage-disposal costs have risen substantially, with larger increases projected soon, and he said he continues to support a regional advisory board with suburban commissioners because participating communities should have a voice.
Those cost pressures aren't new. Municipalities experienced a significant jump in water costs from the commission largely tied to capital costs connected to a major water-treatment-plant project, according to The Reminder. The commission's fiscal year 2026 budget proposed no rate increase but added a new Infrastructure Renewal Charge, per a report from WWLP.
A Regional System Built Around Springfield's Infrastructure
The commission provides both drinking water and sewage treatment in Agawam, East Longmeadow, Longmeadow, Ludlow, and Springfield, and Oliveira's proposed advisory board would draw from those same five communities, per the same MassLive report. Chicopee and Southwick receive partial or peak-only water service, while West Springfield and Wilbraham connect into the system for sewage treatment along with partial or peak-only water, the report notes. In Springfield and Ludlow, the commission itself maintains the infrastructure and handles customer billing, while suburban towns maintain most of their own local water and sewer infrastructure, collect bill payments directly, and negotiate separate contracts with the commission for treated water, sewage treatment, or both.
The physical footprint of the system extends well beyond Springfield's borders. Blandford, Granville, and Russell host the commission's two primary reservoirs and their watersheds, and the commission owns the Borden Brook and Cobble Mountain reservoirs in Blandford and Granville, the outlet reports. Agawam hosts the reservoir atop Provin Mountain in Feeding Hills along with the wastewater treatment plant on Bondi's Island, where wastewater from Agawam, West Springfield, Longmeadow, East Longmeadow, Wilbraham, and Ludlow is treated, according to the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission. The commission also maintains emergency water sources at Littleville Reservoir in Huntington and Ludlow Reservoir in Ludlow, and it's building a new facility at the West Parish Filters water treatment plant in Westfield, per the same MassLive account.
Commission Says It Has Not Taken a Position
A commission spokesperson said the utility has not taken a position on Oliveira's proposal, adding that officials in its service-area communities can, and do, reach out to commission members and administrators with their concerns, MassLive reported. The commission bases its decisions on the long-term best interest of the whole water and sewer system rather than any one city's needs, the spokesperson said.
East Longmeadow Councilor James Leydon said ratepayers are directly affected by decisions on rates, capital investments, and the system's long-term direction, and that residents with financial and operational stakes should have a formal voice and advocacy, per a report from MassLive. He said his call for representation and accountability is not a criticism of the commission's service quality or its employees, and that Springfield should retain a majority on the commission even as the system operates regionally rather than as a Springfield-only utility. Leydon also noted that Springfield residents funded the original investment in reservoirs and treatment plants for a system intended to serve city customers, while Springfield and Ludlow customers bear the cost of maintaining local pipes and providing local service in their own communities.
Where the Legislation Stands
Oliveira's proposal is part of the Senate version of a broader environmental resiliency bill, which the Massachusetts Senate passed in April. The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed its own version of the bill without Oliveira's commission language in June, as noted by MassLive, and a legislative committee is expected to draft a compromise bill for votes in both chambers. Oliveira has said every community that depends on the system deserves a seat at the table, while also saying, in an email, that he does not want to diminish Springfield's role in running the utility.
The commission is an independent public regional utility established under Chapter 40N of state law, governed today by a three-member board appointed by Springfield's mayor and approved by the City Council, according to the commission's own account. It is funded almost entirely by ratepayer revenue and receives no annual funding from municipal, state, or federal sources — a structure that is now central to the debate over who should have a formal hand in steering its budget and board.
