Negative feedback on sewer proposal

WESTERLY Dozens of residents opposed to a plan that would extend the town sewer line to Misquamicut, at a cost borne largely by shoreline residents and businesses, filled the Town Council chambers Monday night.

The residents raised a number of questions about the $24 million proposal while others leveled criticism. They asked whether businesses would pay an equitable share of the project cost, whether the sewage plant has enough capacity, whether the project would prompt an undesirable development boom, and whether it is being rushed. They also questioned why the Town Council, not residents at a referendum, would decide whether to move forward with the plan.

Town Manager Steven Hartford, an advocate and architect of the plan, said that the most recent projections show that Misquamicut residents would pay $1,227 annually for the project for 20 years, the duration of a revenue bond that would be issued to finance the work. Under the traditional sewer extension system in which the town pays for about half of a project and new users pay for the other half, residents would pay about $1,220 per year, Hartford said

Examples of the cost for commercial properties, under the proposal, include the Breezeway Resort, which would pay $17,795 annually and $355,899 over 20 years, and Marias, which would pay $23,062 annually and $461,241 for the term of the bond.

The proposal follows a cesspool phaseout program enacted by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. The phaseout requires owners of property within 200 feet of a coastal shoreline feature, including salt ponds, to install costly denitrification septic systems to replace cesspools. Residents said the cesspool phaseout applies to less than 50 property owners in the Misquamicut area.

Hartford and others who developed the plan said they believe it achieves a fair balance between what residents would pay and what businesses would pay. The amounts are based on projections of system use rather than the traditional lot size determination. Under the plan, Hartford said businesses would pay eight times more than they would pay under the lot size payment determination.

While theres a perception out there that the homeowners are paying more then they would under a conventional sewer extension, thats just not true, and the reason is that the businesses are picking up a substantially greater portion of what they would under a conventional assessment, Hartford said.

In response to another question, Hartford said that while the current plan gives residents who have already installed denitrification systems a 10-year forbearance period before they are required to hook up to the sewer system, all property owners in the affected area will be required to eventually hook up to the system. Officials are considering extending the 10-year forbearance to a longer period of time.

The sewer plant on Margin Street can handle the additional load presented by extending the sewer line without the need for an expansion of the plant, Hartford said. The plan does not require a townwide referendum because revenue bonds would be used to pay for the project. Revenue bonds are paid off with money generated by user fees as opposed to general obligation bonds, which are paid with taxes from all town taxpayers. General obligation bonds require referendums.

Russell Ryan of Kimball Avenue said businesses should have to pick up a greater share of the cost of extending the sewer line since they have more to gain, including not having to give up parking spaces to make room for new septic systems.

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Negative feedback on sewer proposal