A July 5 Sewer Commission vote headed off a potential long Town Meeting debate about legal wording among voters who all want to abandon the current approach to Swifts Beach sewer repairs.
Meeting in preparation for a July 24 Special Town Meeting that will deal exclusively with sewer issues, the commission agreed to support Town Administrator Derek Sullivan's "Article 5" and to ask voters to take no action on the commission's Articles 2 and 3. All three proposals deal with walking away from a controversial sewer fix that would have required many Swifts Beach homeowners to purchase and install costly "grinder pumps."
The board agreed that Sullivan's wording was preferable because it would allow the town to avoid redoing some project preparation that is not controversial.
The big item on the Special Town Meeting agenda is a request for $36 million to replace two pieces of equipment at the sewer plant. There seems little or no disagreement among town officials about that project being needed to keep the plant running.
The commission began by looking at Article Five.
Sewer Commission Board member Bernie Pigeon said Article Five would combine the second and third articles, which deal with the sewer system of the Swifts Beach area.
This area includes Wankinquoah Avenue, Murphy Street, Columbia Street, Barnes Street, Pleasant Street and Bayview Avenue.
This article would provide the commission $3 million to pay for the project.
Instead, Article Five would amend Article 15 to ensure the repairs still take place. Article Five would allow the commission to use the $3 million to repair and/or reline the sewer without the need for grinder pumps.
The commission voted to send Article Five to the Special Town Meeting, which passed 4-1-0.
Pigeon said Article Five would also include the $300,000 engineering study, which is what Article Three called for.
However, as Sewer Commission Clerk Sandy Slavin pointed out, the study is not specifically mentioned in Article Five.
Sewer Commissioner Bob Scanlon said an engineering study was conducted of the area in 2015 and may still be used as a guide for the repairs.
Slavin made a motion to still have Article Three brought to the Special Town Meeting.
She said if someone can provide proof of this previous engineering study that would avoid the need to spend $300,000, then she agrees with passing over the article.
“But if we can’t find something, I think we’re silly not to have an idea about how to repair the rest of the lines in that area,” she added.
The motion failed 2-3-0.
Article One, which is the $36 million repair to the headworks and clarifiers of the Water Pollution Control Facility, was recommended for favorable action at the Special Town Meeting.
If approved, the repairs would be paid for through long-term borrowing.
Pigeon said the commission’s current debt yearly payment is $2.5 million and in two to three years this total should come down to $1.3 million. The commission will not borrow the money for this project until then.
Sewer Commissioner Peter Dunlop asked if there was a possibility of the commission obtaining a warranty for the headworks and clarifiers to ensure this process does not need to be repeated due to poor maintenance.
Pigeon said the maintenance of the headworks and clarifiers are part of the operations of the Sewer Department.
He added when a new director of the department is hired in three months, this concern can be brought to them.
In addition, Pigeon said the lack of logs for maintenance should be addressed as the failure rate of the machines is determined through word of mouth.
The commission voted to unanimously pass over Article Four, which would have transferred funds from the Fiscal Year 2023 budget if approved.
The commission agreed this article was a mistake and if accepted would have been illegal.
