Oak Bluffs business owners question wastewater department policies

At a recent meeting of the Oak Bluffs Wastewater Commission on October 15, members of the Oak Bluffs Association (OBA), several of them among the towns largest users, expressed their unhappiness with the current rate structure. They also charged that the town had, over a six-year period, mistakenly drawn over $650,000 from the wastewater enterprise fund, money that should have been used to defray system costs, and as a result the largest users paid more than their fair share.

A closer examination of their complaints revealed that several years ago the confluence of dire financial times and the untimely death of town treasurer Paul Manzi contributed to an accounting oversight, in which a one time emergency transfer from the wastewater enterprise fund repeated for an additional four years.

A look across the state reveals that Oak Bluffs has one of the highest sewage rates in Massachusetts. As the town considers additional sewering to address the rapidly declining health of water bodies, business owners who contend theyve already shouldered an inordinate amount of the town sewering costs want to see changes in the departments operation and rate structure.

Punitive rates Oak Bluffs wastewater customers are billed on an ascending scale, meaning the price per gallon goes up as usage increases. OBA board director Terry McCarthy said the ascending scale places an undue burden on the larger businesses, especially restaurants and hotels, that already contribute considerable excise tax revenue to town coffers. From a big users point of view, the ascending scale is punitive, Mr. McCarthy, a former state representative who has harborside commercial interests, told The Times. They say its to make people conserve, but I think that argument is a little specious. With a flat rate, you pay more if you use more, so that incentive is still there. This is particularly hard on restaurants and hotels. If you run a large hotel, what do you do? Make people take shorter showers?

The ascending rate structure is endorsed by Department of Environmental Protection because it encourages people to save water, wastewater commissioner and selectman Gail Barmakian told The Times. Some very big users have saved considerable amounts of water, and saved themselves a lot of money, so it does work. Also, you have to consider that being hooked up to wastewater has allowed some businesses to expand and become more profitable. Thats a service to the town as well, but it gives them an advantage. About one third of Massachusetts communities bill on an ascending scale, according to the 2012 Tighe and Bond Massachusetts sewer rate survey.

Oak Bluffs property owners are charged a penny a gallon for the first 40,000 gallons used per annum and the rate goes up in 40,000 gallon increments until it tops out at 2.8 cents a gallon for 360,001 gallons and above. There is no difference between commercial and residential rates. Usage rates have not increased since the system went into operation on April 1, 2002.

According to the Tighe and Bond survey, the average yearly charge for sewage in Oak Bluffs was $1,020. The state average was $646. Only 12 percent of communities in the survey averaged $1,000 or more per year. Comparatively, the Edgartown annual average was $520, with an additional $65 per drain charge. Tisbury, was not listed in the survey, but according to the town website, the department of public works charges a flat fee of 3.1 cents per gallon.

Sludge is costlyLisa Merritt, an Oak Bluffs wastewater department administrator and lab technician whos been with the department since its inception, told The Times there are many reasons why Oak Bluffs sewage rates rank among the highest in the state. We have to ship our sludge off Island, which costs over $80,000 a year, she said. We run a sequencing batch reactor plant (SBR), which is expensive because it requires over 300 grinder pumps, working 24/7, and they need maintenance 24/7. An SBR plant has the smallest footprint and its the cheapest to build, but its also the least cost-effective in the long run. Another reason is our effluent the treated water is pumped under Ocean Park, which is extremely expensive. Edgartown uses open pits.

Ms. Merritt said that the Edgartown system is almost entirely a gravity collection system, which is more expensive to install but is much cheaper to operate in the long run. Less than a quarter of the Oak Bluffs system operates on gravity collection. Additionally, Edgartown has a filter press, so the sludge they ship is dewatered andless expensive to sendoff-Island. They also have a septage receiving component which generates ancillary revenue from septic pump-outs from septic haulers from all over the Island.

Burdensome bettermentsIn addition to usage fees, Oak Bluffs wastewater customers pay betterment fees, which cover the actual cost of installing the sewering and thereby bettering their property. Betterment fees were initially $10,000 for residences and $20,000 for businesses. In 2007, betterment fees were recalculated based on usage, again hitting the biggest users the hardest.

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Oak Bluffs business owners question wastewater department policies