Finance board to Sewer Commission: No special town meeting for line repairs

KENT — The Board of Finance at its regular meeting Tuesday, July 21, at Town Hall shot down a recommendation from the Board of Selectmen for a special town meeting to discuss allocating up to $250,000 in town funds for the replacement and repair of a sewer line.

The sewer line is located on Bridge Street, which runs from Elizabeth Street to the bridge on Route 341, and has been in need of repairs since May.

The vote came after a lengthy discussion between members of the board and Will Gawel, chairman of the Sewer Commission.

“Earlier this year, [the commission] spent some time reviewing the capital and non-capital expenditures of the town for the next five years,� Board of Finance member George Jacobsen said at the meeting. “We recognized that unforeseen emergencies could come along. I would suggest that funding of the sewer line within the next five years is feasible, but the Board of Finance should eliminate some of the previously approved projects in the town’s capital plan to make room for it.�

Jacobsen added that a town consultant told him there was room for debate on whether or not the situation constitutes an emergency.

“Also, the proposed remedy might be needlessly ambitious,� Jacobsen said. “Is this [project] reasonably researched and financially sound for the taxpayers?�

Gawel said the Sewer Commission developed three possible options to address the situation: The “best� option of replacing a section of the sewer line at the estimated $320,000 price, with the town paying $250,000 and sewer users footing the rest of the bill; the “better� option, which would be to reline the sewer pipe at an estimated cost of $75,000; and the “good� option, of repairing areas of the pipe by patching it.

“The best fix is the one the Sewer Commission suggested and this is the one we are standing by,� Gawel said. “However, we have no problem with doing the ‘better’ option, of relining the sewer line.�

He said the commission already has more than $75,000 in a reserve fund that could pay for the relining.

“Although there are some risks that go along [with relining],� Gawel said. “There is no doomsday scenario, but they have to jet water at high pressure through the line and there could be some risks involved. But that will get addressed on site.�

Gawel said a relining could last around 50 years and a replacement could last around 200 years.

Several members of the Board of Finance told Gawel that they are concerned because the Sewer Commission has not developed a plan to address possible future repairs and replacements to the sewer line.

Gawel said the commission is considering forming a separate committee made up of volunteers to form a plan.

In the end, the board voted down the recommendation by a majority vote of 4-0, with member Tom Sides abstaining.

“The very fact that [Gawel] emphatically said that the middle ground is do-able and has a good length of time, it is my belief that [replacement] is premature,� Board of Finance member Paul Abbott said. “I will not vote to pass this through.�

After the meeting, Gawel said the Sewer Commission would meet soon to discuss options. However, he said no meeting has been scheduled.

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