LeBaron Hills residents ask Lakeville officials to help settle Taunton water dispute

LAKEVILLE — Town officials will meet with Taunton representatives on Thursday, Sept. 11, to address a more than 20-year-old water dispute in the Estates at LeBaron Hills neighborhood.

Since the neighborhood’s construction between 2003 and 2004, residents have purchased their water from Taunton through a single “master meter,” billed at a significantly higher commercial rate instead of typical residential rates. Because of this setup, the LeBaron Hills Homeowners Association — and by extension, the residents — is responsible for maintaining, repairing and testing the neighborhood’s water system.

Residents argue the master meter was only meant to be a temporary installation used by the developer during construction, and that the city of Taunton should have assumed responsibility for the neighborhood’s water system. They also contend they’ve been overcharged, paying inflated commercial rates instead of standard residential rates through individual home meters.

“From 2019 to 2024, we have been overcharged $218,000 — and that’s a very conservative number — in water bills,” said LeBaron HOA President Kelly Newman.

Newman said that because Taunton provides a single bill for the entire neighborhood, HOA volunteers must manually read each home’s meter — which were paid for and installed by residents — and calculate individual bills themselves.

Amanda Surgens, a LeBaron resident, said that when she lived in Taunton, her quarterly city water bill was $238. After moving to the Lakeville neighborhood, her first bill totaled $1,961.

The “self-management” of their water system also means water quality testing is sporadic.

“Can we guarantee safe water? Because I lost a father to Camp Lejeune water,” Newman said, referencing the Marine Corp base where contaminated water caused cancers and other illnesses.

On Sept. 2, LeBaron residents attended the Lakeville Select Board meeting in force to request help reaching a solution with Taunton. The request marked another step in an ongoing back-and-forth between Lakeville officials and LeBaron residents.

“We sent a letter in July to the city of Taunton, and we had the fire chief weigh in as well,” said Select Board Chair Maureen Candito. 

“We’ve been advocating on your behalf without really having the power to do anything,” she added, referencing the fact that Lakeville does not have jurisdiction over the neighborhood’s water system.

Also in July, Lakeville officials asked the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to weigh in, hoping a state ruling would settle the question of who is responsible for the LeBaron Hills system.

However, Candito said the response from the state was “unclear,” while Town Administrator Andrew Sukeforth described the letter as an attempt “to stay out of it.”

Because the state's response left the issue open to interpretation, the residents and the city of Taunton must now reconcile their differing views — something Sukeforth and Select Board member Christopher Plonka hope to accomplish on Thursday.

“The Select Board is united in support of the residents and continuing to advocate for a solution that’s going to benefit the residents, as well as the town,” Plonka said.

For now, what that solution might look like remains unclear.