Hearing set on Bridge Street sewer repairs

KENT — Who will pay to repair the sewer line on Bridge Street? Will it be all the town residents, or just the 340 sewer users?

That is the question up for discussion at a special hearing set for Tuesday, May 19, 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall. The Board of Selectmen set the hearing date during a discussion on the sewer line at the regular meeting on Tuesday, May 5, at Town Hall.

During the discussion, Sewer Commission Chairman Will Gawel  told the board that the sewer line on Bridge Street, which runs from Elizabeth Street to the bridge on Route 341, is in desperate need of repairs.

“Time is of the essence on this,� Gawel said. “Town sewage has backed up already once into the phone company building and into the Southworth Dodge dealership building. Effluent was coming out of the lowest toilet in the dealership building and was about five feet high due to the backup in the line. They had mop-and-bucket cleanup over there for several hours.�

The cost of the sewer project is estimated at $320,000. Gawel first asked the board to draft a resolution for a town meeting vote.

“The sewer commission feels that the cost for this should not be borne directly by sewer users but by town taxpayers as a whole,� Gawel said. “The town’s sewer rates have dramatically increased in the past several years to account for increased operation costs and general maintenance. An increase rate would take an unfair toll on residential customers and businesses.�

Bart Clark, an engineer from Oakwood Environmental Associates, said the sewer line, which was built in 1883, has a heavy accumulation of roots in the line, along with several cracks.

“It’s not unusual for a line as old as this to show these kinds of conditions,� Clark said. “But it has reached a point where failure could happen at any time. The consequences of failure at this point can be very severe, from the phone company basement full of sewage or the sewage making it down to the river. We want to move ahead with this as fast as possible.�

The discussion was not about whether the sewer line is in need of repair. Everyone involved in the discussion agreed that it did. The debate was about who will pay.

Dennis DuPaul, chairman of the Conservation Commission, said sewer users should bear the burden of paying for repairs.

“There’s no doubt that the sewer line needs attention,� DuPaul said. “But when I read the municipal sewer system statute, it’s very clear the sewer commission has power to assess fees for its services. The commission should be able to manage its own affairs based on the revenues generated by the users of the system. [The commission] has not set aside enough money to take care of a problem like this, which surprises me.�

DuPaul suggested the possibility of the town lending the sewer commission money, which could be repaid over a period of time by sewer users.

Gawel said the town’s taxpayers are under no obligation to pay for the repairs.

“That’s a fact,� Gawel said. “But Kent is a special town where people get together and they make things happen for the good of the community. Whether it is theater, arts or sewer, whatever it may be. There is nothing that says the town cannot assist with this.�

The selectmen eventually decided to hold a hearing to listen to ideas and viewpoints about the situation.