Bellingham voters will approve or deny sewer expansion plan Oct. 11
BELLINGHAM – Special Town Meeting voters on Oct. 11 will decide whether the town should expand its sewer system and extend service to the Wethersfield West area of town.
The town is planning to reconstruct Taunton and Nason Streets from Wethersfield Road to North Main Street. Taunton Street and the entire west side of the Wethersfield neighborhood have been identified as a viable area for the expansion of town sewer according to the town’s sewer master plan.
Department of Public Works Director Donald DiMartino says if town sewer is to be extended to Wethersfield West, a sewer interceptor and pump station must be installed on Taunton Street.
“What we want to know is if we should include the interceptor and pump station as part of the Taunton Street reconstruction project or
rebuild Taunton Street and quite likely end any possibly of town sewer expansion to the Wethersfield West area,” he said.
That answer to that question will be known when town meeting voters debate Article 10 on the town meeting warrant.
The town mailed out a questionnaire and held a few meetings last year in an effort to determine if residents want to get town sewer. The results of the questionnaire were inconclusive and similar input provided at informational meetings did not clearly indicate whether the residents in this neighborhood did or did not want sewer.
“A less than resounding majority seems to want town sewer in the neighborhood, but no efforts to date have yielded a definite answer,” DiMartino says. “Bringing it to a vote at a town meeting is the only means to finally decide the matter.”
The article on the town meeting warrant will require a two-thirds vote to pass
The town’s initial sewer plan in 2016 was based on the 2002 sewer master plan for properties west of Caroline Drive off route 126, also known as Wethersfield West. After receiving input and signed petitions from residents, the selectmen voted on Aug. 24 to establish the Wethersfield West Sewer Plan. Once it was decided to move forward and bring the question to the voters at town meeting, a decision was made to get an engineering firm involved to refine the cost estimates. A test probe project and preliminary engineering study was also performed and completed in May.
“We now have a detailed analysis of the cost of various sewer expansion options and the much better ability to estimate the likely sewer betterment,” DiMartino said.
If voters next month decide to expand sewer to Wethersfield West there will be three direct costs to homeowners, including a sewer betterment, a sewer connection fee to existing septic system and a sewer user charge.
According to town officials, the cost per single family home for sewer expansion proposed in the Wethersfield West Sewer Plan is estimated at $14,000, which is the amount the town would assess each homeowner as a sewer betterment. The sewer betterment is applied to every property owner that gets a sewer stub regardless as to whether they connect to the town sewer.
The sewer betterment can be spread out and paid over 20 years. The apportioned payment would include interest, not unlike a mortgage. The apportioned sewer betterment charge that will appear on a quarterly tax bill is estimated to be $260, calculated using a 4 percent interest rate.
If a property is sold and there is an outstanding balance due on the sewer betterment it must be paid in full before the sale is completed.
The cost to connect to the town sewer can vary widely. It is based on the complexity of installing underground pipes to redirect the pipes that now lead to your septic system. DiMartino says the town has no control of this cost and has no knowledge of what other homeowners have paid. The DPW issues the permits for the sewer connection, but that permit does not contain any cost information.
The work done to connect a house to the town sewer stub is the homeowner’s responsibility.
Once connected to the town sewer, homeowners will incur sewer user charges. User charges will appear on your quarterly utility bill. The average customer’s utility bill (water, sewer, and trash) would go up by about $210 per quarter with sewer added.
The approved plan by the Selectmen includes funding the Taunton Street sewer interceptor and pumping station outside of the sewer betterment. The cost of the Taunton Street sewer work will be via sewer debt exclusion. That means that every taxpayer will help to pay for the cost of the Taunton Street sewer work and resurfacing. The cost is estimated to be $25 a year for the average tax payer to cover the sewer debt exclusion.