SOUTHWICK – The majority of Town Meeting voters clearly showed they were against footing the bill for the next phase of town sewers last night.
Three articles related to sewer implementation were defeated during the May 19 Annual Town Meeting,
Article 7, to see if the Town will appropriate $165,000 to pay costs of sewer system design associated with sewer system improvements in the Congamond Road area, was defeated 162 votes to 83.
Article 8 asked to appropriate $300,000 to pay costs of sewer system design associated with sewer system improvements in the College Highway North area and received 67 favorable votes and 185 votes against the appropriation.
By a vote of 180-55, voters defeated the third sewer related article on the warrant, Article 9, which was to see if the Town will appropriate $3,130M to pay costs of designing and constructing sewers in the Powder Mill Road area.
Residents of the affected neighborhoods were vocal about their displeasure at the projected $15,000-$25,000 they would have to pay for the sewer project. In addition, all taxpayers would contribute to paying for sewers at the Southwick school campus on Powder Mill Road.
The Department of Environmental Protection has stated the town needs to move forward on connecting the schools to sewers.
“We have a deadline of Dec. 31, 2018,” said Superintendent John Barry. “There are no specific penalties in the consent order.”
Barry said the current septic system is functioning without issue and he believes the DEP would be willing to renegotiate terms on connecting to the sewer.
Several residents of Rosewood Estates on the north side of town said they did not want the sewer in their condominium community.
“We just paid for a new septic – we do not want this,” said one Rosewood resident.
Just down the road at The American Inn it’s a different story.
“Just walk in front of the American Inn and you can smell the problem,” said one resident. “We need this.”
Several residents of the Congamond Road area spoke against the articles and questioned why it was necessary.
Department of Public Works Director Randal Brown said the state was planning a road project there and including sewer lines at the time made sense in that area, which he said was plagued with numerous septic failures.
“The soil is not conducive to septic,” said Brown. “If you look at the long-term health of that road, sewers are necessary.”
One resident of Congamond Road said she was one of the residents with septic failure.
“We had to put in a special system that cost us $31,000,” she said. “It’s my issue, it’s my septic and I take care of my stuff. There are alternatives and systems that don’t involve sewers and you need to think about it.”
Applause erupted several times when residents spoke against the articles.
Freda Brown, chairperson of the Sewer Implementation Committee, warned that the cost of sewers would continue to rise and after the next census in 2020, Southwick would no longer meet requirements for a grant program that would pay about 20-percent of the cost.
“Presently we qualify for a Rural Development grant because Southwick’s population is under 10,000 people,” she said.
The cost to residents in those targeted neighborhoods would be paid over 38 years at an interest rate of five to seven percent said Chief Administrative Officer Karl Stinehart.
One resident said even by spreading it out the cost would be “devastating” to him.
A few residents said they would support a sewer implementation at the schools that did not include the initial cost to neighbors, but spread that cost to all tax payers.
