To the Editor,

First let me assure everyone that I'm not opposed to progress nor am I opposed to a cleaner environment and cleaner water. However, I am opposed to the manner in which the Oakdale and Cromesett area residents have been treated relative to the sewer project.

In focusing on the Oakdale community for a moment, I wonder how many of us realize that Oakdale has a large percentage of elderly people with some of its housing stock dating back four and five generations.

Many of the older-generation homeowners are on fixed incomes or have low incomes and their homes are the only valuable possession they own. They have worked and contributed immensely to this larger Wareham community and helped make it the desirable town that it presently is. While the younger siblings have grown up and mostly moved away to pursue their dreams, Oakdale's elderly population and those on fixed, low incomes are fighting an uphill battle to hold onto the only thing many of them have left: their home.

The sewer project -- Wareham's plan to bring the sewer system to the Oakdale area -- will likely result in many home owners losing their homes because they cannot comply with the town's mandate to hook into the sewer system and pay the "betterment" fee.

To make matters worse, the town of Wareham was not very vigorous in keeping the cost of the sewer project as minimal as possible. Our elected officials -- those we elected to manage our town, those we elected to look out for the best interest of the town's residents -- seemed to look the other way, making decisions that ultimately raised the price of the sewer project as it related to the Oakdale community.

Sharon Gomes

Avenue A, Wareham