With the new town center sewer system all but complete, the Sewer Commission voted this week to set fees for connecting to and using it in the coming year. Meanwhile, Town Hall prepared to tell property owners the betterment fee: the amount they will be asked to pay to defray the cost of constructing the new sewer mains, pump stations, and treatment plant.
The proposed connection and rate schedule has been posted at the Town’s website for weeks and discussed at two public hearings, the most recent of which was held Wednesday morning. At that meeting, with only a single property owner present and with member Rich Maiore absent, the Commission voted 2-0 to approve it.
Betterments: Bedrooms vs. square feet
Finance director Lorraine Leonard told the Press Wednesday that she and Town Administrator Tim Bragan had determined that the town will charge $18,700 per betterment, the maximum amount the town had promised not to exceed. While the precise cost of laying new sewers and upgrading the Massachusetts Avenue treatment plant won’t be known for several days, she said, the final bill is expected to reach the $2.4 million budget approved by Special Town Meeting last fall.
Property owners will be receiving letters shortly, said Leonard, and can either choose to pay the amount they owe immediately, or to finance the amount at two percent interest over the next 20 years. The number of betterment units allotted to a residence is determined by the number of its bedrooms, while the number assigned to a business or church is determined by its square feet of floor space.
A two-bedroom house can expect to pay one betterment unit. The Verizon building on Littleton Road will be assessed one betterment unit, while the Harvard General Store will be assessed two. The Congregational and Unitarian Churches will each be assessed seven-tenths of a betterment for their sanctuaries, but 1.20 betterments for their fellowship halls. Complete details for all buildings in the town center are available at the Harvard town website.
Usage: A three-tiered rate
While betterments paid by property owners will be used by the town to defray 60 percent of the cost of building the new system, the cost of connecting to it and operating it will be paid for by a variety of additional user fees.
Owners who decide to connect during the first 12 months of the system’s operation will pay an upfront fee of $1,000 for each connection. Those who connect a year from now will pay $2,000 for the same privilege; two years from now, the fee rises to $3,000. Property owners will also need to purchase a grinder pump and hire a “drain layer” to install it and connect it to a nearby sewer main. That task will also require the services of an electrician, a plumber and town inspectors.
Once connected, the amount that users are charged will depend on the amount of town water they consume, an approach based on the practical assumption that the amount of wastewater a property discharges equals, more or less, the water it takes in. The few homes and buildings that do not use town water will have to install meters to measure directly the wastewater they release.
Initially, property owners will be billed for service once every six months. The rate schedule is three-tiered: properties that use less than 2,250 cubic feet per billing period will pay the lowest rate, and those that guzzle more will pay still more. Everyone will pay an additional “base rate” of $50 dollars.
“That’s so a house that stands empty for six months will still have to pay for the availability of the service,” said Leonard.
The newly approved sewer schedule “mirrors” the rate schedule for town water, but is 25 percent higher, Leonard told the commission on Wednesday. She expects the average semi-annual bill for sewer use to be $356 dollars (which assumes an average six month consumption of 5,620 cubic feet). For those who already use town water, the amount will be added to their current six-month bill.
The Town of Harvard will pay the difference between the actual cost of operating the system and the amount users provide. An amount of $85,000 is available in the 2013 town budget to cover this expense.
This week the town center was quiet for the first time in months. After 39 such gatherings, there was no sewer building team meeting at Town Hall on Wednesday morning. Ricciardi Brothers, Inc. construction equipment and building supplies were gone from around the Common and the Department of Public Works yard. According to Town Administrator Tim Bragan, only three minor tasks at the treatment plant must be completed before the state Department of Environmental Protection will allow properties to connect.
One remaining task required by the state Department of Environmental Protection, according to Bragan, is installation of a revolving beacon at the treatment plant to alert passersby of problems.
