Due to an action by the North Branch City council Aug. 22, some residents in town could now have up to 15 years to hook up to city sewer.By a 3-1 vote (Mayor Kirsten Hagen-Kennedy was absent for the meeting), the council approved the repeal and replacement of an ordinance regarding connection to municipal utilities for homes within the citys newly updated urban service area.This matter had been tabled from the previous council meeting, as three of the bodys members Kelly Neider, Robert Canada and Jim Swenson wanted more time to research the issue prior to voting on it.North Branch City Administrator Renae Fry thoroughly explained what the repeal and replacement of the ordinance means for the people of North Branch.She repeatedly stressed it is not in the citys plans to build out utility lines in already existing neighborhoods.This is not a case where individual properties that exist today that might possibly be near a force main or other major infrastructure are being required to hook up, she said. Were really talking about the expansion of sewer into new areas or the redevelopment of existing neighborhoods.She said an aspect of the ordinance update that staff struggled with is what it means to have utility lines available to hook up to city sewer.Running a force main down a street is not a structure that an individual resident can hook up to. Staff wanted to be certain that this hookup concern is only triggered when those lateral lines are installed in connection with a particular project to which an individual property could actually hook up to, she said. So in the case of an apartment building, if were taking a force main with a lateral directly to that site where theres no means for any of the area properties nearby to hook into, that sewer is not available for those residents to hook up to, and therefore the requirements are not triggered.The main language change that occurred with the ordinance dealt with the timeframe in which people had to hook up to city services, if they were deemed available in their area and their dwelling had its own well and septic.Under the previous ordinance, a homeowner who lived close enough to existing utilities could have had a very short timeframe to connect.(The homeowner) shall be required at the owner(s) expense to install suitable connection to the public sewer in accordance with the provisions of this division, within 90 days of the date the public sewer is operational, provided access to the public sewer is within 100 feet of the structure generating the wastewater, if required to preserve health, safety and welfare of the occupants or environment, the previous ordinance read. If no threat to health, safety or welfare exists, and the existing septic system is in full compliance with city, county and state code, then the property owner will not be required to connect to the municipal sanitary sewer system.Fry noted there wasnt a standard to determine if a septic system was operating correctly under the former ordinance, so as part of the new ordinance, residents who live in a home that could be hooked up are required to have their septic systems inspected every three years to obtain a certificate of compliance to prove theyre in working order.If a septic system is in working order, a homeowner could get five certificates of compliance, meaning theyd have up to 15 years to connect to city services.The cost of those obtaining those certificates could range from $250 to $335, Fry noted. She also explained that an inspection cannot be done unless a septic system is pumped. Building official Rich Meyer said after two industry professionals have done soil borings to determine the quality of the soil in a given area, future inspections would cost less, because that aspect of them would no longer be required.Having the 15 years provides you the most options of any policy Ive ever seen, City Engineer Lee Gustafson said. The 90 days is pretty common. If you get to other cities, you have two years to hook up, period, and thats it. To have this type of flexibility for the residents of North Branch, frankly, is almost unheard of. I think youre providing a very good situation for each and every property owner to make individual decisions as to whether they want to hook up or not.Due to water services being controlled by North Branch Water and Light, which is a separate entity from the city, a connection to that utility would differ from sewer.The ordinance was written to cover sewer and water to the extent that water is also available for a particular development, Fry wrote in an email. As separate entities, however, we do not govern Water and Lights practices and it would be up to Water and Light to indicate what evidence they would consider appropriate to demonstrate that the existing well was not contaminated. Our ordinance does indicate that the city would allow a property owner to continue to use their well once hooked up to municipal water, but only for non-potable purposes, such as watering their lawn.

Council, resident commentsFour residents spoke at the meeting; all were concerned about the ordinance update.Ive been very upset about what youve been pulling the last couple of months, Nancy Zacherson said to the council. You make decisions for all the people in North Branch, not just 50 percent of the population.Resident Don Swanson had a few questions for the council.When is the proposed date that sewer and water is going to come down 400th Street? he asked. We dont know if its 10 years or 20 years.Council member Robert Canada, who voted against the ordinance update, has repeatedly expressed his opposition to the change and said he wanted more opinions on it.I would defer this to the new planning commission, he said. I have yet to see input on the positive nature come to us or staff.Council member Jim Swenson said the council is updating an ordinance that has been on the books since 1996 and needed to be changed to reflect the citys current situation.It is not the intent of staff or council to prohibit people from having their own wells and septic systems, he said. We just need to upgrade and change our ordinances because some of these ordinances have been on the books for many, many years and we need to bring things up so when we do get developers and other people coming into the community they know this is what we have.

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NB council updates ordinance on sewer connections - ECM Post Review

For half a million people in the border regions of Texas, getting basic infrastructure -- the kind that most Americans take for granted -- has taken decades. These residents have to cope with problems like streets overflowing with sewage from sand-filled septic tanks, high levels of toxic arsenic in their drinking water or roads that flood during the summer monsoons.

But fixing those problems could get even tougher next month thanks to Texas' budget cuts, advocates there say.

The predominantly poor residents of colonias -- makeshift subdivisions often far outside city limits -- have bought land or cheap houses from unscrupulous developers who promised to eventually install electricity, running water and paved roads. The developers often failed to deliver.

Texas cracked down on the worst offenders in the 1990s, but change has been slow. Many of these communities still lack even the most basic infrastructure systems.

The neighborhoods are often so remote that connecting them to city sewer lines or drinking water is prohibitively expensive, at least for the local governments that would normally foot the bill. Putting in a sewer system to serve 5,000 people in an El Paso-area colonia, for example, is expected to cost as much as $40 million. The haphazard development in colonias makes upgrades difficult, too, because its hard to install sidewalks and sewer pipes where roads are steep, rights-of-way arent clear and houses are unevenly spread out. Sometimes the houses are even in floodplains.

Still, government officials have stepped in to address some of the problems. Local, state and federal officials developed programs to install water systems, deliver health services and build roads in colonias. In 1999, Gov. George W. Bush signed a law that created a state ombudsman program to help colonia residents figure out the myriad programs available to help them.

The ombudsmen's program was also responsible for tracking the state's progress in improving conditions incoloniasand reporting those results to the legislature. In its last report, the office reported that the number of people living incoloniaswith the worst conditions dropped from 44,526 in 353 neighborhoods in 2010 to 37,862 people in 337coloniasin 2014.

But Gov. Greg Abbott this summer effectivelyterminatedBush's program. The secretary of state, who administers the program, had asked to maintain funding for it at $860,000 for the next two years. But Abbott vetoed that spending from the state budget. The move came as a surprise to many officials who represent border areas with colonias, because there had been almost no talk in recent years of cutting the program.

But the governors office calls eliminating the ombudsmen's program a matter of fiscal responsibility.

No services to the colonias have been interrupted as a result of eliminating this redundant program, says Abbott spokesman John Wittman. The governor believes that funding to the colonias should go directly to the colonias instead of using tax dollars to fund a bigger government bureaucracy. With the governors action, Texas is shrinking government without interrupting services to the colonias.

But Rep. Mary Gonzlez, whose El Paso-area district includes more than 260 colonias, says the veto will have consequences for peoples health and safety. It either shows the governor doesnt understand the needs of the colonia residents or that hes allowing politics to supersede policy, she says. The decision will have few political consequences for Abbott, she adds: Most of the people affected -- poor, Hispanic and likely Democratic -- are already upset with Abbott for signing a law earlier this year targeting sanctuary cities and cracking down on unauthorized immigrants.

Gonzlez says the state coordinators help colonia residents navigate the complex and often confusing array of services avaiable to them. ButWittman, the governors spokesman, says the ombudsman program actually adds another level of bureaucratic red tape. When the program is eliminated next month, he says, coordination will happen directly between the state agencies providing services and the colonias.

Sam Taylor, a spokesman for Secretary of State Rolando Pablos, also emphasizes that the changes would be primarily administrative. (In Texas, the governor appoints the secretary of state.)

State agencies coordination of colonias projects has evolved significantly since the programs inception, he says. We expect there to be no diminishment of tangible benefits to colonias residents, as infrastructure, agriculture, water, housing and public health programs dedicated to colonias projects continue to be funded in the current budget.

Without state-level coordination among agencies, though, some local officials are worried that the responsibilities will fall to them.

For the county, the loss of the ombudsmen office is a big loss for us, says El Paso County Commissioner Vincent Perez. In the time Ive been in office, the ombudsmens office has been the one Ive been dealing with the most when it comes to dealing with infrastructure in the colonias.

Other state agencies havent come forward to tell local communities that they might be eligible for colonia-related programs, and they havent coordinated among government agencies, Perez says.

Meanwhile, the options for counties to step in are limited. Counties are already financially strapped, because the state limits the taxes they can impose, which makes it more difficult for them to pay for services in place of the state coordinators. Texas law also prevents counties from imposing zoning requirements on developments that couldve prevented many of the ongoing problems with colonias, Perez says.

Our county was created in 1850, and honestly, it hasnt changed much since then. Were using 19th-century tools to deal with 21st-century problems, he says. Texas values very limited government, and county governments certainly reflect that.

Perez says pressure to address the infrastructure problems in colonias will continue to build, especially in the El Paso area, where the sprawling city is encroaching on once-isolated neighborhoods. That will actually make it easier to solve some problems, like extending sewer lines. But it also means that other issues, such as flooding caused by inadeqaute infrastructure, will start to impact more and more people.

And its not feasible for many families currently living in colonias to move out, he adds, because affordable housing is hard to find for poor residents.

Youre talking about a family thats lived there for three decades that now owns their property free and clear. To them, its a source of pride, Perez says. Theres a lot of people out there who think [colonia residents] should move somewhere else or be relocated. Its not that simple. Thats why its important to have folks with a lot of expertise in the area of colonias. The office of the ombudsman very often provided that.

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On the Texas Border, Building Infrastructure Is Hard. Critics Say It's About to Get Harder. - Governing

In the aftermath of his removal, Kevin Connolly resigned from his position on council as deputy mayor, reducing the towns number of council members to three not enough to hold quorum. Connolly was unavailable for comment prior to deadline. Nominations for the upcoming municipal election will be accepted Sept. 5 at the town hall in Cupids.

They may take legal action against the town, the mayor explained. Right now, were asking for suggestions from Municipal Affairs, and we got options were looking over for the future of council.

When asked if council would replace the pipe, Gordon Power said he doesnt feel as though council has a choice in the matter.

The Compass contacted Mike Power, who also confirmed that he had been removed from council, but stated he could not speak on the matter at length due to legal reasons. When asked for his reasoning for the removal of the pipe, Mike declined to comment.

The Compass was directed to Mike Powers lawyer, Bob Buckingham, for any further questions. Buckingham could not be reached prior to deadline.

The report from the Department of Municipal Affairs and Environment was made public through an access to information request and is accessible online.

chris.lewis@cbncompass.ca

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Mike Power removed from Cupids council over sewer line removal - The Compass

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ATHOL The town has received a six-figure grant from the state to help finance infrastructure improvements in the Grove Street neighborhood.

William Caldwell, vice chairman of the Athol Selectboard, and Linda Overing of Breezeway Consulting accepted a $706,748 Community Development Block Grant from the state last week in Boston. Athol Planning and Development Director Eric Smith said the money will be used to bring town sewer to Winter and Wilder streets.

He said the work will involve new roadway construction, a new water line and a sewer line installation. The area is served by septic systems currently. Smith said the grant cannot provide the direct public dollars for homeowners to connect to the new sewer line because CDBG funds can be used only on town property, but Athol will offer opportunities for homeowners to tap into housing rehabilitation grants or other resources to bring sewer connections to fruition.

Smith said a low-pressure pump sewer system is required. The grades of the existing houses prevent a standard sewer installation, he said.

Caldwell, a teacher at Athol High School, said he traveled to Boston because he was the only selectman who could make the trip on a summer weekday.

Its big money, he said Thursday. It allows us to do what we need to do.

Caldwell said he and Overing met with Gov. Charlie Baker, Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash and Housing and Community Development Undersecretary Chrystal Kornegay.

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Athol gets $700K in CDBG money - The Recorder

For several years, Summit County Health Department officials suspected there were septic system failures occurring in the commercial area of the lower Silver Creek neighborhood near the Interstate 80 and U.S. 40 junction.

Earlier this year, Summit County Health Department Director Rich Bullough urged the Summit County Council to consider forming a voluntary assessment area or issue a building moratorium. He said Silver Creek and East Canyon Creek had been identified as critically impaired waters, adding "they are very important tributaries of the Weber River providing drinking water to 600,000 people in the Wasatch Front."

"Most of those buildings were built a long time ago when septic was approved because it wasn't an option to get sewer to that area," Bullough said. "But, when Woodside homes came in and requested septic permits about four years ago we denied those permits because of the high groundwater and history of failure in the area. They chose, instead, to run sewer and all of a sudden that gave us the option of extending sewer beyond those homes."

As a result, a voluntary assessment district was recently formed, Bullough said, with the help of the Utah Division of Drinking Water (DDW), the Summit County Council and property owners in lower Silver Creek.

"It's an expensive project roughly $1 million dollars and we wondered if we could finance a bond, but I ultimately ended up going to the state water board and requested a loan and amazingly they gave us a zero percent interest loan," Bullough said. "They really bent over backwards to help us get this done."

Bullough said 22 property owners, commercial and residential homeowners, agreed to sign waivers to join the voluntary assessment district.

"Ultimately, the County Council took a gamble when they formed this assessment area with just 19 waivers signed, knowing they would need about 24 to pay for the project. But they agreed to pick up the balloon payment at the end of the 20 years and we have since picked up three more property owners," he said.

Property owners agreed to pay $1,760 as an annual assessment for 20 years to pay for the project. However, as more properties are developed, officials hope that the 20-year term will be reduced.

"We are already hearing from potential developers who are looking at projects in the area and I suspect we will see more and more come online," Bullough said. "We hope that 20 years is significantly reduced to about 15 years."

Construction to install the sewer lines began on July 17 and the expected completion date is September 17. The lines will only extend to properties in the lower commercial area of Silver Creek.

"If development is to occur within 300 feet of this new line, they will have to hook up to it. That is part of the state law," Bullough said. By bringing sewer to this lower part of Silver Creek, the homes higher up on the hill may, at some point in the future, have the potential to have sewer run to them as well.

Bullough said he walked around the construction site earlier this week and, personally, felt a "huge amount of satisfaction."

"This wouldn't have happened without a whole bunch of people doing the work and without the property owners saying, 'We want this' because they are the ones who are paying for it," he said. "We have a very important water source over there and we have just taken a significant step to not just maintain the water quality, but improve it."

To view the ordinance, go to http://summitcounty.org/DocumentCenter/View/6576.

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Silver Creek Sewer Assessment District is created - The Park Record

HERMITAGE It's been 10 months since a resident of North Neshannock Road asked Hermitage Municipal Authority if it was planning to extend sewer service in her area, but authority officials told a group of area residents Wednesday that the issue goes back way beyond last year.

The authority is preparing an update to its Act 537 plan, the document "that says, for any given piece of property in the entire city, what they're gonna do with their sewage," said Jason Wert, consulting engineer with RETTEW Inc.

JOE PINCHOT | Herald

Jason Wert of RETTEW Inc., Hermitage Municipal Authority's consulting engineer, center, explains a study of the sanitary sewer needs on North Neshannock and Darby roads.

Specifically, officials are looking at needs for sewer service on North Neshannock and North and South Darby roads, although a larger update covering the entire city is in the offing.

Kathy Lealyof North Neshannock asked the authority Wednesday how the study of her neighborhood came about.

"I can't understand why one individual family has opened this big ball of wax up and we're causing so much stink in Hermitage, here," she said.

Authority Manager Tom Darby responded that the "stink" goes back at least to the '80s, during a previous Act 537 plan update.

"We knew the area where you're at was bad," Darby said, meaning that there were malfunctioning sewer systems.

At that time, the authority expanded sewer service, but not to that area. Local officials knew they would have to revisit the area and state Department of Environmental Protection officials have not forgotten the earlier findings.

"It wasn't off the radar," Wert said. "The city didn't kick over an anthill that wasn't already known. The DEP was aware of the situation. As a matter of fact, the DEP asked if we would look at a broader area, which is why it's more than just Neshannock Road. We did not do as broad an area as the DEP wanted, and that's probably something that will come up in a later year. Maybe, next year or the year after. "

The authority has sent letters to residents asking them fill out a survey.

"We have to determine what the situation is in the area," Wert said. "Whether you feel strongly or not about whether public sewer service should be there, your input's valuable. We need it because we don't live in those homes and we don't understand what goes on on a daily basis."

RETTEW employees will be walking the neighborhoods this month looking for signs of malfunctioning septic systems. Wert said homeowners are allowed to forbid surveyors from coming on their properties, but that DEP requires them to list such occurrences a "potential malfunction."

Lealy asked if a poll of the residents could be used to determine whether sewer lines are extended.

"We cannot," Wert said. "We have to let the data determine what the situation will be. If there is enough malfunctions identified, or repairs of malfunctions throughout the years, then we'll have to provide options to the DEP of how we're going to solve that situation. It varies but I will say, generally, if one in four homes have had a problem or have a problem at the moment, generally, the DEP will say we have to extend public sewer service. It's cut and dry."

Just because a specific area North Darby, as an example does not meet that threshold, lines still could be extended if the percentage of malfunctions is close to the cut off, more malfunctions are expected in the coming years and/or officials decide it will be cost-efficient to do the area as part of a larger project instead of waiting, Wert said.

"No decision's been made," Wert said, noting any projects are at least a year away.

Some residents complained about the potential cost to homeowners. In the past, the city has charged a tap-in fee to each homeowner and an assessment fee based on property frontage, and homeowners have had to hire contractors to connect their homes to the public lines.

"I really think there's a serious financial problem for the people who are here," said Linda Spanos of North Neshannock.

Marcie Grimm of North Neshannock said she had to pay $20,000 to install a low-flow treatment system as a condition of buying her house and would not want to have to dismantle that system and pay more to tap in to public sewers.

Wert acknowledged the financial burden can be significant. The city has established payment plans for past projects and grants have been used to reduce the cost to homeowners, but Wert said grant funds largely have dried up.

After Grimm left, Wert told the board that low-flow systems such as Grimm's, which uses chlorine to treat waste water, are permitted by DEP when there is no appropriate land on a property for a conventional septic or sand mound system, and are considered a malfunction. Many permits specify that, should public sewer service become available, the homeowner must tap in.

"DEP considers that a measure of last resort," Wert said of low-flow systems.

Roseanne Sauers, who approached the authority in September, identified herself to the neighbors and explained her situation.Sauers and her husband, who has since died, wanted to sell their house but could not without replacing their septic system. They didn't want to spend the money if the city was going to extend sewers in the near future.

"I didn't blow a whistle," she said. "We were having trouble.I share your frustration."

Wert said he expects a draft of the Act 537 update will be ready in September with a public comment period in October or November. City commissioners will have the final say on whether any projects are undertaken and how homeowners would have to contribute to a project.

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Sewer plan update in works - Sharonherald

By Matthew Nash

Olympic Peninsula News Group

CARLSBORG After more than a year under construction, the Carlsborg Sewer Project is wrapping up, Clallam County staff report.

Meggan Uecker, solid waste coordinator for Clallam County, said crews with contractor Pacific Civil and Infrastructure are striping the roads including Carlsborg Road and Business Park Loop, paving the pump station, rerouting the Olympic Discovery Trail and paving a portion of Hooker Road south of U.S. Highway 101.

About 85 sites, Uecker said, can begin connecting to the system starting this coming Wednesday.

They have until December to connect to the system, she said, but county staff are available to help people through the process. If residents do not finish their sewers by December, theyll have to renew their application and pay the current connection fee of $1,500.

Physical work on the $9.22 million project began in April last year and was deemed substantially complete prior to an April 1 deadline this year to obtain a 0.25 percent interest rate on the $10 million state Public Works Trust Fund loan.

The completion means water can travel through piping from the Carlsborg pump station to the city of Sequim via the Dungeness River Bridge over Highway 101 to a collection system at Grant Road and be sent to Sequims Water Reclamation Facility.

Uecker said staff members are holding off on saying just how well the project went because they are in the assessment process.

Were excited its done and ready to move into this phase [of completion], she said.

With the project nearly complete, Uecker said traveling should be easier following the cleanup and a new center turn lane being painted along Carlsborg Road.

With it being unmarked, people were complaining of other folks not knowing where to drive, she said.

Late last year, several Carlsborg businesses reported having a hard time with the construction detouring traffic away from the area, leading some to cut back on staff hours and days of operation.

Lisa Deese, owner of the Old Post Office Sweets & Gifts, 751 Carlsborg Road, said her business has been night and day and really close to not surviving.

It was so dead during the construction, but now Im going to have to kick it into high gear, she said.

Now that the construction is over, its been amazing. All of my customers are thrilled.

Val Culp, co-owner of the Old Mill Cafe, 721 Carlsborg Road, previously said it was one of the businesses to cut back on staff hours but its now returned to pre-construction operations.

Its definitely a lot better since the road was finished, she said. Now that its picked up, weve got our regular schedule again.

Michael Dew, owner/general manager of Pioneer Propane, 931 Carlsborg Road, said in the winter, construction made it difficult to get in and out of his business. However, his sales representative Stephanie Segle came up with the idea to introduce a loyalty card with which, after customers buy 50 gallons of propane in a canister for barbecues/RVs, theyll receive 5 gallons free.

Dew, who opened Pioneer Propane in 2009, said Segles idea helped his business stay proactive and the idea was a boost for the business.

Uecker said residents who signed up before March 31 paid $500 to connect to the sewer and those who sign up before April 1, 2019, will pay $1,500. Residents who sign up after that will pay $8,000.

A lot of sites can still connect, and with a change in zoning, many properties can subdivide, which may create more hookups, she said.

Carlsborg sewer customers will pay a $26 base rate per residential unit, and those with meters will pay $8.66 per 100 cubic feet of water used per month, with non-metered customers paying a flat monthly fee of $78.80 per unit.

County officials estimate the average sewer bill will be about $70.

Dew, whose business is right next to the pump station, said he was a supporter of the system early on and signed up when it first became available.

It worked for the Romans and it certainly can work for us, he said.

Culp said she and her husband, Larry, opted not to connect to the sewer because they spent $40,000 in June 2015 to install new septic tanks at the prompting of the Department of Health.

I cant see paying the [connection fee] and paying to decommission the tanks, she said.

Were going to ride it out.

If the Culps or any homeowners/business owners with functioning septic systems not connected to the sewer system were to sell, thed have to connect within a year. Newly constructed homes also must connect to the system within a year because new septic tanks are not allowed in the Carlsborg Urban Growth Area.

For more information on the project, contact Uecker at 360-417-2441 or muecker@co.clallam.wa.us, or visit http://www.clallam.net/PublicWorks/CarlsborgSewer.html.

________

Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.

A recently paved section of the Olympic Discovery Trail now loops around the Carlsborg Sewer Projects pump station north of Savannah and Village lanes. Its one of the final pieces for the project, which finishes this week. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)

Crews recently painted new lines on Carlsborg Road, including a center turn lane, following the completion of the Carlsborg Sewer Project. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)

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Crews finishing Carlsborg sewer project; residents can connect to system starting Wednesday - Peninsula Daily News

Hope Street, Bossier city. It's a one street-subdivision with only 14 homes.

The street was built 30 years ago.

It's been annexed into the city and its residents pay city taxes, get city water, and trash pick-up, but they aren't connected to the city's sewer system.

After requests from residents tired of maintaining and repairing outdated septic tanks--the city is now considering hooking them up.

City Councilman Scott Irwin gives them his full support.

"Septic tanks are not ideal when you have houses that are that close in proximity," Irwin said. "You can have mosquito problems and other issues, and so they think that it's time for them to tie into the sewer, and I agree."

In their most recent meetin, the Bossier City Council went over a proposed ordinance that will allocate $350-thousand to extend sewer lines to this subdivision.

Most were in favor, but an old ordinance was brought up in the meeting, it states the city can only fund half of the cost to hook up homes on annexed property.

So will this prevent the new ordinance from going through? Councilman Scott Irwin says he doesn't think so.

"The intent of that ordinance was really concerning new development and annexing land into the city. So if we have a new development come in, we want to make sure it has city water and sewer put in by the developer, but this problem on Hope Street is a long standing problem and the city has fixed problems like this in the past."

If the new ordinance passes, the city will install sewer lines close to the subdivision, however, residents will still be responsible for connecting their homes to the line.

Five residents told KTBS 3 they are thrilled for the possible change to come and will be glad to get rid of their septic tanks that they say can be a pain to maintain, repair, or replace.

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Bossier City Council works on residents' request to be included in sewer system - KTBS

In the June 23 edition, there was an article about the planning board's discussion of changing the zoning maps for the Coastal Pond Overlay District for their determination of who should be required to install septic systems with denitrification capabilities ("denite systems").

However, in practice, the planning board hasn't used the maps to determine septic requirements. Instead, the planning board abused its authority and strong-armed developers to accept denite system requirements for subdivisions located beyond the areas delineated by the regulation, particularly in East Falmouth north of route 28.

Furthermore, the regulation, which only applies to five-plus lot subdivisions and commercial properties, has been completely ineffective because it does not apply to most of the new construction throughout town and in nitrogen sensitive areas. This is because the sensitive areas are already densely populated, so there is hardly any land available for larger subdivisions. In fact only 10-15 percent of new homes built in the entire town over the past decade were in subdivisions of five or more lots.

The other issue is that the planning board has been completely arbitrary, inconsistent, and unfair when setting denite system requirements, but thats a story for another day.

The reality is that the regulation and the denite systems have proven to be a huge waste of money because theyve done nothing to alleviate the nitrogen overload in our coastal ponds. There's been approximately 275 such systems required by the planning board, but the majority of the town's 10,000-plus homes not on sewer would need to have these systems to potentially see a measurable nitrogen reduction.

In addition to the initial expense of installing the system, these systems costs homeowners upwards of $2,000 per year in excessive maintenance contract requirements, operating costs, and testing requirements. For the affected homeowners, this is literally "flushing money down the toilet" and impossible to rationalize when they know its a matter of form over substance and the large annual expenditure will make zero difference toward resolving the nitrogen overload.

Most importantly, the fact is that the town established a Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan (CWWP) approved by the board of selectman in September 2013, with input from the Water Quality Management Committee. (This committee is made of folks with sufficient levels of expertise and understanding of the nitrogen issue.) The CWWP clearly defines the town's long-term strategy for cleaning up the waterways. The present version of the CWWP includes the Little Pond sewer service area project, inlet widening at Bourne's Pond, and other measures, and the plan is set to be reassessed in the near future. This is the official plan that was submitted to state and federal authorities, so its the only plan that counts.

The coastal overlay zone regulation and the involvement of the planning board are clearly not part of the plan. The planning board doesnt even have a representative on the Water Quality Management Committee.

The regulation should be abolished because its proven to be totally ineffective and not part of the master CWWP. Furthermore, there is no need to have inconsistent and conflicting regulatory overlap at town hall, all septic matters should be handled by the board of health, which would coordinate the requirements of the CWWP, as applicable, in conjunction with Mass Title V septic requirements.

Chris Shanahan, Eagle Drive, East Falmouth

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Regulation Ineffective - Letter - CapeNews.net