Water Pollution Control Facility Superintendent David Simmons and a clerical employee from the department have been laid off as of April 1.

Simmons said Town Administrator Mark Andrews told him Friday, March 12, that he and the employee are being laid off because the sewer enterprise account is in "financial crisis" and the fiscal year 2011 budget is not balanced. The enterprise account, funded by sewer user fees, is used to run the department.

Simmons said he was told Monday morning that he would be placed on paid administrative leave and would be on-call until March 31. Simmons said the clerical employee was also placed on administrative leave.

Andrews said he could not comment at this time because the layoffs concerned personnel matters.

A March 9 letter addressed to the United Steelworkers Union, given to Simmons by Andrews, explained that "In an effort to reduce the current gap in the budget, the Town intends to reduce the current level of staffing in the Manager's Unit by laying off one (1) employee effective April 1, 2010."

Simmons said Monday that the union will be filing a grievance on his behalf.

The Water Pollution Control Facility operating budget has had ongoing problems, Finance Committee Chairman Richard Paulsen said. Money from a retained earnings account, which is funded by the money left over after expenses are paid, have been used to balance the budget for several years, he said. It is not known whether there is enough revenue coming in to justify taking money out of the retained earnings account, he said.

The Board of Selectmen voted Feb. 23 to conduct an audit of the sewer enterprise account to get a better understanding of the funds.

Unlike other town departments, the Sewer Department is not funded by property taxes but, instead, by fees collected from sewer users. Under this system, fees are set by Selectmen (in their role as Sewer Commissioners) based on the cost of running the system. If costs go down, sewer fees should go down. If costs go up, sewer fees should go up -- and without the constraints that Proposition 2 1/2 puts on property taxes.

An expected deficit in next year's Sewer Department budget would mean that sewer user fees would have to be raised to cover the costs, unless there is a way to lower those costs.

The current level of sewer fees is already a hot issue. As sewer lines have been extended to more homes - largely to eliminate the pollution caused by failed or inadequate septic systems in waterfront neighborhoods - more homeowners are paying fees. The size of those fees, often accompanied by "betterment" assessments made when the sewer is first extended to a property, have become a sore point for many property owners. Selectmen have reacted by seeking to lower those fees.

Simmons and Municipal Maintenance director Mark Gifford, who oversees the Sewer Department, were discussed in a May 2009 executive session meeting of the Board of Selectmen, during which the Board discussed the audit of town computers. In the meeting, Selectman John Cronan said Simmons and Gifford are "the two biggest rats that work for the town" and to make sure to audit their computers. The Board agreed. The audio was accidentally aired on Wareham Community Television. The meeting was later determined by the Plymouth County District Attorney's office to be a violation of the open meeting law.

The layoffs, leaving the department without a superintendent, came just before the groundbreaking for the sewer expansion project in the Cromesett Park and Oakdale Avenue areas. Simmons expressed confidence that the remaining staff is properly trained to handle the day-to-day operations of the department.

Also leaving the department is C.J., the big gray cat that Simmons brought to live at the facility in 2001. C.J., profiled on Page 1 of Wareham Week last month, is now living at Simmons' home.