Oakdale and Cromesett residents are upset and want answers about the high cost of bringing sewer to their neighborhoods.

The town has been aggressively expanding the sewer system since approximately 2006 in order to reduce nitrogen pollution in town waterways.

The town pays for the cost of expansion by charging property owners in each newly sewered neighborhood what is known as a "betterment fee." The fee, which differs from neighborhood to neighorhood, is calculated by dividing the total cost of a project by the total number of households in a neighborhood.

The sewer betterment fee for the Oakdale and Cromesett neighborhoods is currently calculated at approximately $21,500.

Previous betterment fees, for other neighborhoods ranged from $12,000 to $17,000, said Guy Campinha, director of the Water Pollution Control Facility.

"We're known to be about $6,000 [higher]," said Oakdale resident Paul Barnett said Saturday, July 14, during a meeting held for residents of the neighborhoods to learn about the project. "We're here … just to ask for equity."

Many residents attending the meeting questioned whether certain costs associated with the Oakdale/Cromesett project were even necessary.

For instance, the project was assessed $250,000 for police details, prompting some residents to ask why so much money was needed when no part of the project was located on a main roadway.

Others questioned whether federal stimulus money had been fairly divided among the Parkwood Beach/Tempest Knob area neighborhoods and Oakdale/Cromesett.

Funds were divided 50/50, but Cromesett/Oakdale residents argued that because Parkwood's fee was a much lower $15,000, the funds should have been used to close the gap between the two neighborhoods' betterments.

Still others questioned project specifics, from whether a sewer needed to be designed a certain way to whether a road needed to be paved.

Realizing that getting all the answers would take more than just one meeting, residents cut to the chase and asked what type of solutions might be available for their plight.

During her opening remarks, Marilyn Jordan of the Cromesett Park Improvement Association argued that her neighborhood was being unfairly loaded with a project that benefits the whole town.

"We … are being asked to sacrifice too much financially for Wareham's nitrogen reduction program," she said. "The town needs to propose and adopt an equitable town-wide funding plan for the required waste water and nitrogen management efforts, as has been done in Falmouth, Marion, and numerous surrounding communities, and stop bankrupting and dividing its neighborhoods."

Jordan added that a "clean water fee" spread out amongst all the taxpayers would be miniscule compared to the thousands of dollars that newly-sewered neighborhoods are paying.

Others simply asked whether the town could lower the betterment fee to an amount closer to what other residents have paid.

Selectmen Chair Steve Holmes, however, reminded audience members that citizens' effort to cap the Oakdale and Cromesett betterment fee at $18,000 failed during spring Town Meeting.

Another resident asked when he should expect to start paying his betterment fee.

Interim Town Administrator John Foster responded that, if the betterment fee is finalized by the end of this year, residents could expect to start paying their fee in January of 2014.

Residents can either pay their total betterment fee within the first 30 days, or spread their payment out over 20 years, Foster said.

At the end of the meeting, Ron Robinson of the Oakdale Betterment Association said that his organization would like to negotiate a solution to the high betterment fee — a sentiment also expressed by Jordan of the Cromesett Park Improvement Association.

"We do not wish to pursue this matter further through municipal appeals and a lengthy court case, but if need-be, we will. All 247 of us," Jordan said.

Holmes said that the Selectmen would discus the matter during their next meeting.