The Board of Selectmen voted Tuesday not to combine contracts for ongoing sewer expansion projects in the Parkwood Beach and Oakdale/Cromesett neighborhoods.

Combining the contracts would lower estimated betterment costs for Oakdale/Cromesett residents by approximately $4,000 and raise estimated betterments for Parkwood by about $2,000, according to numbers provided by John Sanguinet, administrative assistant to the Board of Selectmen.

The betterment fee is the amount each household along a new sewer line is required to pay to cover the cost of a sewer extension. Betterments must be paid within 20 years and carry a 2-percent interest rate. Final betterments cannot be determined until a sewer project is completed and the total cost of an extension is known, which has many residents feeling nervous about how much they will have to pay.

The notion of combining the projects was raised by a resident at a previous Selectmen's meeting and has been a topic of debate for months.  This prompted the Parkwood Beach Association to present a petition to the Board of Selectmen on July 27, asking that the board keep the contracts and costs of the Parkwood Beach sewer project separate from all other sewer projects.

Selectman Walter Cruz, acting as chair because Selectmen Chair Jane Donahue, who owns a home in one of the neighborhoods, recused herself from the discussion, was in favor of combining the two contracts. He also suggested that the contracts be combined with a third contract for sewer expansion in the Agawam Beach neighborhood, which has not yet gone out to bid.

"What I'd like to do is make it equitable for everybody," Cruz said.

But historically, sewer contracts have not been combined when considering the costs of betterments for residents, said Municipal Maintenance Director Mark Gifford. The Selectmen also questioned whether legal issues would arise from combining the contracts.

"To try to change an unfair system now ... is making an unfair system more unfair," said Selectman Brenda Eckstrom.

Selectman Cara Winslow concurred. "There is no fair way to do this," she said. "It's inherently unfair."

With the clock ticking past 10 p.m. and other town business still on the agenda, the Selectmen decided to table the sewer discussion following the vote on whether to combine contracts. They did not discuss whether or how to divide $1.4 million of state stimulus money awarded for both projects, which could affect the betterment costs for both contracts.