Vote on Sewer Project Has Ambiguous Outcome

A public hearing on a proposed sewer project for 70 homes on Fairview Drive and Orchard Road resulted in a lot of clear discussion Thursday night, but an ambiguous outcome.

The hearing on a $1.4 million plan to install a low-pressure sewer system in the neighborhood is just the latest of 20 years of meetings when sewers have been on the table.

Town Engineer Russ Arnold prefaced a presentation on the plan by recapping the history to several dozen residents, many of whom had been active in the ongoing process.

“In 2007 we had a hearing, and a lot of questions came up about policies and procedures and who paid for what,” Arnold said. That hearing shaped new policy surrounding sewer projects, he said, including a revised fee structure, which cuts residents’ assessment in half, to approximately $10,270.

Kurt Mailman, representing the engineering firm Fuss & O’Neill, laid out the reasoning behind the project.

“The goal is protecting public health and the health of the environment,” he said, “and to improve the quality of ground water.” Most of the homes operate on well water, which, he said, was at risk from septic systems that might leak.

The move was also prompted by the Farmington Valley Health District, which James Foote, chairman of the Water Pollution Control Authority, said has seen a disproportionate rise in the number of repairs or failures in the past few years. But, he said, there is no report to indicate the public health is in danger, rather that the neighborhood, with extensive bedrock and uneven elevation, is “not suitable” for septic systems.

“The Fairview and Orchard neighborhood was deemed a tie with the Woodruff area for the greatest need in town,” Mailman said. The Woodruff area is also slated for the sewer installation.

But since 2007, when the authority last looked at installing sewers in the area, several expensive factors have changed, increasing the cost to install a more standard gravity system.

“This solution is being presented here primarily because it’s the most cost-effective solution for the town of Farmington,” Mailman said.

But residents were not convinced. Some had poured money into functioning septic systems and didn’t want to add the burden of an assessment for a project they weren’t going to use. Although residents can opt out of the program and defer payment of the $10,270 assessment, it would come due when a resident either hooked into the sewer system or sold the house, at which time he would also have to pay for a pump to be installed and hooked up.

That was the case for Keith Crosby, who nine years ago had done work to his septic system.

“There are more than just me here still paying for what we did following the rules of the health district, and I think it’s a heavy burden on us in these tough economic times to say here’s another bill for you,” he said.

Others were unhappy with the specifics of the plan – the required homeowner-maintained pumps that beep and flash during power failures, safety hazards posed by the pumps sticking out of the ground, and the additional cost to homeowners of  a couple of thousand dollars. A few said they doubted the pumps, which Mailman said use the same amount of horsepower as a garbage disposal, could do the job to move wastewater all the way up the street.

Some just felt they had been cheated out of deals in which other neighborhoods had sewer systems installed for free.

“Everyone else was getting the bennies and our two streets were getting the dumps. At 17 [Orchard Road], I’m lower than he is. I’m having a hard time picturing that little pump moving all that stuff up 85 feet,” said Richard Glynn.

A few were in favor of finally ending the meetings and moving forward with the project.

“I’m definitely for the sewer system,” said resident Gary Petersen. “We’ve been on septic long enough. [The project] adds $10,000 to the value of the house, and it may not be the perfect system, but I think it’s going to be a lot better than having septic tanks."

When it came time to vote, two Water Pollution Control Authority members voted to approve the motion and two opposed. The four of five members had a quorum, making the vote valid – but what’s the outcome? Several residents offered that the motion needed a majority to pass and since there was no majority, the motion had been defeated. Foote wouldn’t say.

“We’re going to get an outside opinion,” he said “and then present the findings under old business at our next meeting.”

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 13, at 7 p.m. in the Board of Education Conference Room in Town Hall.

If the motion is approved, the plan moves to the Town Council, which has included funding for the Fairview/Orchard project in its 2011-2012 budget.

Also included in the budget is funding for a similar sewer project in the Woodruff Road and Ridgeview Drive area. A public hearing for that project was held March 23. Residents voted approximately 3-1 in favor of the plan and the authority approved it.