The selectmen formally endorsed the work of the Town Center Sewer Action Group (TCSAG) for the first time Tuesday in a vote that lets the committee use its funds to draft a special act for approval by the town and by the state Legislature. The selectmen also urged the committee to begin meeting as soon as practical with residents of the proposed district to explain the details of its plan.
“I’ve been approached by a half dozen people who are not sure where to plug into the program and [give] their input and understand what’s going on,” said Selectman Tim Clark. “I wouldn’t hold back. If we don’t speak to every property owner in the district, then we haven’t done our job.”
TCSAG Chairman Chris Ashley agreed and said an initial public meeting is planned for Tuesday, March 3, at 7 p.m. in the Hapgood Room of the old library.
The selectmen’s unanimous vote is the latest sign that they want a town center sewer solution ready in time for Annual Town Meeting in May. With businesses unable to expand, residences in violation of state Title 5 septic system codes, and town buildings underused, the lack of a way to handle town center sewage has been a nagging concern of town government for years.
According to Town Counsel Mark Lanza, who met with TCSAG members last week, the town has two ways to create the new sewer district it wants: the first is to act under existing Massachusetts laws that govern how towns create and manage their districts, and the second is to write its own law and petition the Legislature for approval. The latter course is the best choice, he said, because it gives the town greater flexibility in deciding how to set betterment, connection, and usage fees; grant deferments; adjust payment schedules; and deal with the “unintended consequences” of a new system. Existing law is “rigid” and leaves a town very little wiggle room, said Lanza, who as a town manager and a lawyer helped implement sewer districts elsewhere in Massachusetts.
TCSAG members concur. A special act, Ashley said, gives Harvard the best chance of realizing the intent and implementing the specific recommendations of the TCSAG proposal, which, he said, are uniquely tailored to the town and the needs of town center residents.
According to Lanza, a special act can be drafted “in two weeks,” because similar work was done by the town for a Still River sewer proposal some years ago. “You’re not reinventing the wheel here,” he said.
In the discussion that preceded their vote, however, the selectmen made it clear they want to be convinced. They asked that in his draft, Lanza call out those sections of the special act that depart from existing state sewer laws and note how the two differ. They also are reluctant to go too far in trying to manage future conflicts over use of excess system capacity.
“It’s very difficult to create a sewer and not create unintended consequences,” said Chairman Leo Blair. “They sort of go together.”
“I don’t think it’s a deal-breaker, but it’s very difficult to specifically exclude some people [from future growth] and include others,” said Blair. “It is not as difficult, in my experience, to reserve capacity for anticipated greater uses.”
In other business this week, Ashley said he would meet with the state Department of Environmental Protection to determine whether the agency has any issues with the TCSAG plan that might impede licensing of the treatment plant or system once construction is complete.
