In 2009, developer Scott Blagden received a letter from the former head of the Sewer Department that assured him that homes in his new Cromesett Road subdivision would not be required to connect to town sewer.

But on Tuesday, town officials told Blagden that the former employee was wrong, and the properties will have to connect -- at a cost of $18,000 each.

The Board of Selectmen declined to approve requests for four sewer betterment abatements requested for Blagden's properties under the Oakdale/Cromesett sewer contract.

Blagden received a letter from former Water Pollution Control Facility Superintendent David Simmons in 2009, stating that the properties Blagden was developing to sell did not need to connect to town sewer and thus, would be not be assessed betterment fees.

The letter from Simmons, dated October 27, 2009, states:  "There will be a sewer stub installed at the intersection of Cromesett Road ... but the existing homes in these neighborhoods will not be receiving a sewer stub for their individual property and therefore will not be assessed a sewer betterment and/or be required to connect to town sewer."

"Since this letter's been written, every lot has been provided a lateral" pipe that can allow the properties to connect to the neighborhood's main sewer line, according to current Water Pollution Control Facility Director Guy Campinha.

The town began expanding the sewer system to more neighborhoods in the last decade in an effort to reduce pollution in Wareham's waterways. When the town expands the sewer system, each homeowner in the newly-sewered area is charged a "betterment fee" that helps pay for the cost of the project.

While betterment fees are traditionally set by dividing the total cost of a project by the total number of properties in the neighborhoods in the contract, residents of the Oakdale and Cromesett neighborhoods successfully petitioned Town Meeting to cap their betterment fees at $18,000, after arguing that the betterment assessment process was flawed.

The residents of Oakdale and Cromesett would have paid $21,339.

This created a funding shortfall of about $1 million that has been growing as other residents have sought -- and received -- abatements.

Town Attorney Richard Bowen advised the board that Simmons was not authorized to tell anybody they didn't have to connect to town sewer.

"The only body with the authority to waive the betterment fees is you," Bowen said, referring to the Selectmen, who also serve as Sewer Commissioners.

Simmons "wasn't in a position to make a representation of that nature," said Bowen.

The board voted the abatements down 4-0-0. The fifth vote would have been cast by Selectman Patrick Tropeano, who was not present at Tuesday's meeting.