Date: Fri 11-Sep-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

sewer-connections-WPCA-Hurley

Full Text:

Final Sewer Connections Due Before Winter

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

About 100 homes and 20 non-residential properties remain to be connected to

the town sewer system, according to Fred Hurley, town director of public

works.

Property owners have been connecting to the municipal sewer system since

September 1997 when the new sewage treatment plant on Commerce Road went into

operation.

The number of sewer connection permit applications submitted to the town has

increased recently, signalling that more connections will be made in the

coming weeks, Mr Hurley said Wednesday.

Such permit applications had slacked off somewhat during the summer, he said.

Property owners apparently wanted the full use of their backyards during the

summertime, he said.

When all properties are connected to the sewer system, it will serve 641

residences, 126 non-residential properties and 80 condominium units at Walnut

Tree Village in Sandy Hook. Non-residential properties include businesses,

factories, town-owned buildings and churches.

All the public properties planned for connection to the sewer system have done

so, except for the Newtown Hook and Ladder firehouse and Town Hall South, Mr

Hurley said. Both properties are planned for connection within the next week,

he said.

The firehouse has had a grinder pump installed to force wastewater uphill to a

point where the sewage will flow downhill under the force of gravity. Town

Hall South will have internal repiping done to create a common discharge point

for sewage from the upper and lower levels.

Only a handful of property owners have gained Water Pollution Control

Authority (WPCA) approval for sewer connection deferments, Mr Hurley said.

With deferments property owners don't have the expense of a sewer hookup

charge, but still must pay sewer assessments, he said.

Mr Hurley urged that property owners who have not yet connected to the sewer

system to do so.

"People really should move early enough to get the grass growing over these

connections. They really need to get in by early October," he said.

Unless the sewer connections are made by then, grassy growth can't be

established over the sewer connections and lawns will become a muddy mess into

the spring, he said.

Mr Hurley said property owners who haven't yet connected to the sewer system

should hire a contractor who will install a connection before the winter.

The WPCA has yet to set a deadline for all properties to be connected to the

sewer system, Mr Hurley said. The agency had been aiming to get all properties

connected by Labor Day.

Mr Hurley acknowledged that in some cases financial hardships are preventing

sewer connections from being made in a timely manner.

"There's a number of people who really are in bad financial shape," he said.

The price of a sewer connection varies, depending upon the complexity and

extent of trenching and pipe laying needed for the job.

People who want to get their properties connected to the sewer system may

obtain the paperwork for the job, called an "application to connect," from the

town's public works department on Turkey Hill Road. The department maintains a

list of qualified drain layers who are licensed to connect sewer lines.

Property owners may then contact drain layers for multiple cost estimates.

Town regulations require that existing septic systems be emptied of their

contents, crushed, and then filled in with soil or stone, depending upon

ground conditions.

If a property owner must have repiping work done within a building to connect

to the sewers, then a building permit is also needed for the work.

After Fuss and O'Neill, Inc, the town's consulting engineer on the sewer

project, completes its contractual obligations at the end of this month, the

town will keep the firm on as its sewer consultant, Mr Hurley said.

The $32.5 million sewer system, which was installed in the borough, Taunton

Pond North and Sandy Hook Center, was designed to rectify multiple groundwater

pollution problems posed by failing septic systems.

Sewer system construction began in November 1994.