Just under 100 people attended the Board of Selectmen's workshop meeting on February 28, many of them from the Oakdale and Cromesett neighborhoods who were anxious to find out what their betterment fees are going to be.

"People came here tonight because it's about money," said Cromesett resident Joe Macdonald to the applause and even a "hallelujah" from the audience. "I really don't care about presentations, we're here to talk dollars."

Oakdale and Cromesett residents are upset because they have yet to hear an exact cost for the extension of the sewer system to their neighborhoods, which was completed in the summer of 2011.

Neighborhoods that have had sewer lines installed must pay to connect to the system and pay a "betterment fee," which they can choose to pay up front or over a time period of usually 20 years.

"The people are waiting to hear what numbers they are going to have to pay," said Macdonald.

Selectmen Ellen Begley asked Water Pollution Control Facility Director Guy Campinha when he thought that the numbers would be finalized in order to determine the betterment fees for the Oakdale and Cromesett area. Campinha said that while there was no way to give an exact date yet, betterment fees might be determined by mid-April.

"Until we get the facts in, we won't be issuing a betterment," said Selectmen Cara Winslow in response to audience frustration. "It would really not be prudent of us to give a dollar number out to you … because we don't know enough to give a reasonable answer at this point."

Betterment costs cannot be determined until a project is completed and bills are tallied.

Campinha echoed Winslow's sentiment after the meeting was over. "If you give the wrong answer it'll do more harm then good," he said.

Some residents, however, such as the members of the Oakdale/Cromesett Betterment Association, a citizens' association dedicated to the issue, say they are looking for more transparency into their costly betterment fee, which has been estimated at $22,000.

Other completed sewer areas, such as Parkwood Beach, had a betterment fee of $15,010.

Campinha said that the equation for calculating the fees was a straightforward formula dividing the total cost of the project by the number of "laterals," or connections from properties to the main sewer.

There are fewer houses in some areas, which impacts the fees from neighborhood to neighborhood, Campinha said.

But Oakdale resident Sharon Gomes felt that mistakes might have happened in the past which have unnecessarily increased their high betterment fees.

Gomes mentioned a situation where, after the bid for the construction of the sewer betterment project for the Oakdaleand Cromesett areas was already in place, a pumping station on Avenue A off of Sandwich Road was moved across the street but remaining on Avenue A.

Because the pumping station had to be moved, the bidder had to increase their fees for the project.

"It hasn't been fair," said Gomes, "changing pumping stations that have cost us so much money."

Because the issue happened before the current Board of Selectmen were in place, the Board could not address the issue specifically.

But situations such as the pumping station, called "change orders" in construction language, often come

up in large construction projects such as the sewer betterments, according to Winslow. "The Board of Selectmen looked at every change order … [it's] a large, multi-million dollar project … the change orders are not rubber stamped, they are questioned," said Winslow, adding: "We understand that … every penny has to be paid for by hardworking [people] in these areas."

Selectmen Chair Walter Cruz, Ellen Begley, and Steve Holmes were also present at the meeting. Selectman Mike Schneider was not present.

Also present at the meeting were Mark Gifford, Municipal Maintenance director, and Mike Guidice, senior project manager for CDM Smith (formerly Camp Dresser & McKee), the engineering firm that designed the sewer projects.