How about $20,000 for a water and sewer tie-in fee? It may sound like a bad dream, but developers in some parts of Massachusetts are already facing such tie-in fees æ and you could be next. Water suppliers and developers around New England say that the threat of high tie-in fees will crop up as a local issue all over the region over the next ten years as suppliers seek to cover the rising cost of supplying water and treating sewage. For now, the problem is worst in the Boston area, where water suppliers under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) must help pay for the Boston harbor cleanup. The tie-in fee schedule in Manchester-by-thesea (an affluent Boston bedroom community),