Members of the Marion Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee, Capital Improvements Committee and town residents came together at the Marion Music Hall on Thursday, February 9 to hear the details of an extensive multi-year, multi-million dollar village water and sewer upgrade project.
The meeting featured consulting engineers Shawn Syde and Robert Otoski of Camp Dresser and McKee, Inc., who described the four-phase project that has a preliminary cost of approximately $27 million. The engineers explained that this figure could be reduced by 35 percent by eliminating/reducing costs such as lining some existing sewer pipes with a synthetic liner and using concrete sidewalks instead of brick.
Mr. Syde presented the four phases, and presented a time line for each. Phase 1 construction would be tackled first, with a current year start and the phase completed in 2014 and involve Main Street, South Street, Hiller Street, Front Street, Cottage Street, Ryder Lane and Holmes Street. The estimate for Phase 1 is $13.5 million.
Phase 2 included Main Street, School Street and Pleasant Street and Clark Street, slated to begin in 2014 and finish by 2016, with a cost estimate of $5 million.
Phase 3, proposed to begin in 2016 and completed in 2018, included Front Street and Holmes Street, consisting of 5,000 linear feet. The estimate for Phase 3 is $ 5.8 million. Phase 4, at Spring Street to Ryder Lane and down to Maple Avenue is the longest stretch, at 7,050 feet with an estimate of $3.5 million.
The sum total presented was for a repair and upgrade of the existing sewer and water system in the town and to reduce the inflow and infiltration into the sewer system and address water drainage issues, primarily after a heavy rainfall. Water from storms can enter the sewer system, taxing the system and pushing it to capacity.
The primary concern raised is that storm water entering the sewer system also is treated unnecessarily at a high cost to the town and putting excess wear and tear on the wastewater treatment infrastructure. It was estimated that in 2010, it cost the town $90,000 to treat water resulting from rainstorms.
Another issue is that the town is close to exceeding the permitted amount of water that can be processed at the treatment plant, as determined by the Environmental Protection Agency. It was noted that if the current level of water being treated continued, the town would be in violation of their permit and might be forced to consider upgrading the treatment facility.
After a house-to-house inspection program, held last spring and summer, the town has slowed down the amount of water going into the sewer system.
At the meeting, Mr. Syde said that 83 percent of village properties were voluntarily inspected and some problems were found and resolved. According to CDMS, they confirmed 40 sources going into the system illegally and are continuing to investigate another 360 sources that could possibly be entering the sewer illegally via roof drains and sump pumps. Dye testing is ongoing to identify and confirm sources.
“This is an old town, plumbers would tell residents to put their sump pump lines into the sewer…this is an old problem that’s become a new problem,” said Selectman Roger Blanchette.
“We’ve seen less of a flow after a rainstorm,” commented Rob Zora, saying that depending upon the time of year, the amount of rain and other factors, the sewer flow has improved significantly, but not enough to meet the new sewer treatment plant requirements.
Mr. Zora reminded the group that water came to the town in 1908 and sewer, in some fashion, in 1910. “The village is the oldest in the town and operates like an old French drain,” he said.
Selectman Henry – serving as chairman of the effort – told the group that the meeting was an open meeting but was being held with the intent of getting the three committees together to review and discuss the project.
“This is a lot of money and the focus is for the committees to ask questions (of CDMS) and discuss the issue,” said Mr. Henry.
Approximately 20 residents attended and were vocal in asking and responding to comments between committee members.
“How are we going to pay for this?” asked Jay Ryder, who serves as Planning Board Chairman. We already have some of the highest water and sewer rates in the state.”
Finance Committee member Karen Kevelson said that the town has no money to mow the ball fields at Sippican School during the summer.
“We’re going to depend on volunteers to mow the lawn…if we don’t have money to mow the lawn, how are we going to pay for this?” she asked.
The consensus was that the committees needed time to digest and review all the data presented and decide on a date to meet again. The group went back and forth on whether the initial request for an engineering estimate should be placed on the warrant for town meeting in March, but no decision was made.
No date was set for the next public meeting on the issue.
By Joan Hartnett-Barry