Mike Guidice of CDM Engineering appeared before the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday to discuss issues with pumping stations and drainage in the newly-sewered Oakdale and Cromesett neighborhoods.

With a one-year warranty kicking in when the Selectmen vote to accept the project once it's complete, the Selectmen wanted to ensure the town won't sign off on a lemon of a sewer project.

Construction began in 2010.

“Obviously, this close out has stretched out longer than we’d hoped,” Guidice noted.

One bone of contention is the Mattapoisett pumping station in the Cromesett neighborhood, which has experienced issues with inflow, becoming overwhelmed when the inflow exceeded the station’s capacity, causing the water to spill into the street.

“The source is the hatch” of the pumping station according to Guidice. “The pipe system is tight.”

Storm water in the roads has also been an issue. Some areas need to be re-grated because the catch basins are higher than the road.

Exacerbating the issue is the fact that the arch in the middle of the road, which is meant to direct water into the gutters and drains, ends 20 to 30 feet upstream from the hatch at the Mattapoisett pumping station.

At past meetings, the board has been adamant about not paying for repairs needed due to design flaws in the project, and at Tuesday’s meeting, Selectman Cara Winslow asked the burning question: “We’re not paying for him to correct this are we?”

Guidice responded: “No.”

Contractor P. Gioioso will fix the errors at no extra cost to the town according to Guidice.

Guidice said he will have a final number on the cost of the project by November 27.

“That should be plenty of time to get everything wrapped up," he said.

At Town Meeting last month, the Oakdale/Cromesett Betterment Association successfully argued for the "betterment" fee -- the cost that residents of those neighborhoods will have to pay for the sewer extension -- to be capped at $18,000 per property.

The estimated betterment was $22,000 per property. The fee is traditionally set after the final cost of a project is known. The cost is then divided by the number of properties sewered in the project, and passed on to the residents, who must pay it within 20 years.

It is unclear how the town will pay for the difference between the cost of the project and the total amount the residents will pay.