by John Osborn
At a rare summer Town Meeting Thursday evening, attendees approved a request to borrow an additional $540,385 so the town can begin work this fall on a sewer system that will serve the businesses, homes, churches, and municipal buildings in the center of town.
More than 200 residents turned out to cast their votes. Outside, a lightning-laced thunderhead took shape, but inside Bromfield's Cronin Auditorium, where the meeting was held, there was little drama. Following a detailed presentation by Town Administrator Tim Bragan, attendees were ready to vote after less than an hour of discussion. Once moderator Bob Eubanks had scanned the sea of blue cards raised in favor of the measure, with none opposed, he declared the vote unanimous.
With the additional money approved, the town can start construction as soon as a contract is prepared and signed, a process that will take three to four weeks. The project has two components: a network of pipes and pumps that will collect wastewater from 74 privately-owned and five town-owned buildings in Harvard's town center, and an upgraded plant to treat it. Chris Ashley, who chairs the sewer building committee, says he wants to complete the collection system by winter. Work on the wastewater treatment plant can proceed through the winter and into the spring in spite of the snow and slush.
Prior to the meeting, Selectmen voted to recommend to the sewer commission— whose three members the selectmen must appoint soon— that the betterment fee paid by town center property owners not exceed $18,700 per betterment unit (roughly equivalent to a two or three bedroom single family home) regardless of the final cost of the project. Though a sewer commission can ignore such a request, the assurance from Selectmen seemed to satisfy residents of town center who had asked that their contribution to the system be capped.
The article also had the support of the capital and finance committees, who were presented with compelling numbers earlier in the week which show that the cost of a "no" vote would be more than $800,000 higher than a vote in favor of the project. Moreover, even though the cost of the project has risen 27 percent above its original estimate, the impact of the increase on the taxes of an average homeowner in town, according to Bragan and finance director Lorrain Leonard, is no more than $6 to $8 per year for the next 20 years.