An end is in sight for sewer line dispute

KENT — Almost four months after the issue first came up, the Sewer Commission voted on a plan to repair 300 feet of sewer line on Bridge Street during a meeting at Town Hall on Tuesday, Aug. 11.

How (and whether) the town should fund repairs to the line, which runs from Elizabeth Street to the bridge on Route 341, has been a topic of debate at Board of Selectmen’s meetings since May.

In June, a plan for the town to give the Kent Sewer Commission a $350,000 loan for sewer line repairs was shot down by voters 32-14 at a special town meeting.

Since he first brought up the subject at a selectmen’s meeting in May, Will Gawel, chairman of the Sewer Commission, has insisted that sewer users should not bear the entire burden of funding repairs and that the town, as a whole, should fund the work.

But, in an interview after the Aug. 11 meeting, Gawel said funds for the repairs will in fact come out of the commission’s budget.

“We’re still working on details,� Gawel said. “We may use some of our own funds and borrow some more, but that hasn’t been determined. The estimate for the project is $125,000, but it might be lower because it’s going to go out for a competitive bid. What this project will do is address the worst portions of the line.�

Gawel said he does not know how much the commission has in its budget.

“We’re in the middle of hiring a new treasurer, so we’re in a bit of a transition between old and new bookkeeping,� he said. “I am guessing that we have more money now than we did when we first came to the selectmen with this project.�

He could not say when the project will start, but he estimated that it will begin sometime before winter.

“When we begin work, the project will not interrupt service to any user,� Gawel said. “We can set up pumps between manholes in such a way that we won’t interrupt sewer flow.�

Gawel said that the commission should have full plans for the project at its meeting next month.