City Council reviews sewer ordinance

TORRINGTON » The City Council will review the city’s ordinance governing sewer usage, while a proposal to allow a Goshen housing development access to the system remains a possibility.

Chapter 170 of the city Code of Ordinances governs sewers, and is aimed to “establish fair and reasonable charges for the use of the Torrington sewerage system so that the maintenance and operation of said sewerage system shall be selfsupporting,” according to the code.

Water Pollution Control Authority Administrator Ray Drew told the council this week that it was originally adopted in 1990, then went through a “whole-sale overhaul” in 2013.

Drew said the issue of “non-jurisdictional” connections to

the sewer system has been raised recently. Woodridge Lake, a private housing development in Goshen, proposed linking to the system

in 2016, a matter which remains unresolved.

Drew said the city already has inter-municipal agreements with Harwinton and Litchfield, which are the typical manner of governing how an outside entity interacts with the city system.

Council member Paul Cavagnero proposed that language creating a fee formula for outside entities be included in the ordinance, establishing liability for potential ruptures.

“We now have this tremendous asset that somebody else wants to use,”

said Cavagnero. “To me, the proper way to look at that is as a business deal.”

He asked that a committee look at the risk of allowing Woodridge Lake or another entity to use the system.

Drew said that he welcomed a review, but cautioned

against the idea of creating specific fee standards for non-jurisdictional entities in the ordinance, again referencing the practice of using intermunicipal agreements.

“I would very strongly caution you about getting very specific,” said Drew.

If there is no shared use of a line, an outside entity should bear liability for a potential failure, Cavagnero said.

The City Council Ordinance Subcommittee will take up the matter at its next meeting, council member Gregg Cogswell said.