The Town Center Sewer Action Group (TCSAG) recommended to the Board of Selectmen Tuesday that the town build a sewer system using the existing town wastewater treament plant on Mass. Ave. The new system would serve the churches, businesses, town buildings, and roughly 60 residences in the town center, all of which would be incorporated into a new sewer district; the exact boundaries of the district are yet to be determined.
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Reading from the report, TCSAG Chairman Chris Ashley said this solution “provides the lowest possible cost” to both the general taxpayer and the properties served.
Board of Selectmen Chairman Leo Blair praised the report as one the best he had ever seen by an all-volunteer study group, an opinion that was echoed by other board members. Selectman Peter Warren recused himself while the proposal was being discussed because he owns property that would be in the proposed sewer district.
The town has struggled for years to find a cost-effective solution for town center businesses and residents who have struggled to comply with the state’s Title 5 law, which regulates commercial and residential septic systems, due to rock and ledge-ridden land that allows few options. Lack of a centralized system has made it impossible for businesses like the General Store to expand and has saddled individual homeowners with the expense of upgrading systems that are not in compliance with the law. Although the Board of Health has never rendered an opinion, some town residents are concerned that the town wells near Bare Hill Pond are at risk of contamination.
As envisioned by the plan, the town would create a new sewer district and impose a betterment fee on properties within it. Whether properties would be able to opt in or out was not discussed, but the report suggests that a high participation rate is necessary to make the scheme work effectively.
Private residences that connect to the system would pay an estimated $36,500 betterment fee spread over several years, under the assessment scheme proposed by the study group, plus an additional $950 per year for operating costs and eventual pump replacement. The town would save roughly $33,400 per year, $18 per taxpayer, because repairs and upgrades to the Mass. Ave. facility that would otherwise be necessary could be rolled into the plan. Commercial properties, churches, and town buildings would be assessed using criteria established by the Title 5 law.
The selectmen, while praising the work of the study committee, took no action, though they did discuss steps that would have to be implemented in order to present the plan to Annual Town Meeting voters in May.
“I was hoping they’d say, good job, we’ll take it from here,” said Ashley. “I didn’t enter the study with any preconceived ideas, but I do think the sewer issue is [essential to the viability of] the center of town.”
“You’re going to be hearing a lot of ‘no’s’ over the next three years,” said Blair, referring to the bleak financial outlook for municipalities. “But there are prudent investments that need to be made, and this is one we should all take seriously.”
The study committee has posted the spreadsheet it used to analyze alternatives at www.harvard.ma.us/TCSAG%20Sewer%20Scenarios%201.20.09.pdf. The proposed sewer district map can be found at www.harvard.ma.us/Proposed%20Sewer%20District%20LPSS%208.5×11.pdf, and an executive summary of the committee’s report can be accessed at www.harvard.ma.us/TCSAG%20Recommedation%20to%20BOS%201.20.09%20v1.2.pdf.
