| Pumping Station Transfer Discussed Town Meeting gave OK, but board is still reviewing the details | |||||
Reporter TEMPLETON — About 20 Cook Pond residents gathered at Tuesday’s Planning Board meeting in the hopes of having the town take over their sewer pump. Currently, the residents own the pump, which is on Victoria Lane and Weston and Sampson Engineers Inc. of Peabody service it. According to Nathan Wilder, trustee of the homeowners association which is spearheading the movement, the town has several other pump stations that are managed by the Sewer Department. “We are paying into it with our sewer bill,” Mr. Wilder said. He explained that the Cook Pond residents feel they’d be better served by having the town run the pump station. The town voted that the Sewer Department could take over the pump at a July Special Town Meeting by a voice vote. But ultimately, the transfer lies in the hands of the Planning Board. The board voted to take over the pump station on Tuesday, but it failed to pass, 2-2, and with two members abstaining. The board will get together with the highway superintendent and bring it back on the agenda either late January or early February. Many Planning Board members wanted to know more from the Sewer Department and had questions about what would happen if a pump failed. Mr. Wilder said the legal paperwork has been drawn up and an engineering study has been done, costing about $10,000 for the homeowner’s association. He believes the town should have the pump station since all town residents including those along Cook Pond pay a sewer bill that pays for maintenance of pump stations. Garth Weiderman, a board member of the Cook Pond Estates, said they got somewhere on Tuesday. “We were able to hear the board’s concerns and views,” Mr. Weiderman said. “We got some good information out of it. With their help and direction, we can work to get the pump station under the maintenance and ownership of the town.” Mr. Weiderman is in favor of the town servicing it instead of paying a private agency. He said they shouldn’t have to hire people from other towns. “We want to take advantage of good town services,” he said. Maryann Boulay, trustee, said if their pump breaks, they have to pay $300 a year plus the quarterly sewer bill. She said the other pumps are checked on a daily basis, and theirs isn’t. “I feel safer having the town take care of it,” Ms. Boulay said. “We can benefit more from them.” She said the discussion has been stirring for five years, and the trust began about two years ago. Previous steps taken were: an engineering study was conducted; the passage at a July Special Town Meeting, a unanimous vote by the Sewer Commission although there were some initial concerns, and the final step will be a vote by the Planning Board. |
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Sunday, December 27, 2015
Pumping Station Transfer Discussed
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Cook Pond Estates should never have had town sewer this was a mistake made by our Sewer Superintendent at the time, nobody bats a thousand. The plan was to sewer Partridgeville Pond and South Main St. and bring in Cook Pond Estates into that sewer area if town residents voted in favor of this sewer extension. With "the brothers" at both the Planning Board and Sewer Commission it should be interesting to see how things turn out. It would seem that the contract that is in place had nothing to do with the Planning Board and when the town adopted sewer commissioners they were hypothetically in charge of all things sewer. If the sewer commission has no clout perhaps they should be abolished.
ReplyDeleteIt should be left as is, Those on Cook Pond bought their homes knowing exactly what they were buying and what fees they would be paying, Why should the rest of the town be on the hook for any troubles that arise now. If it does pass, those homeowners should still be required to pay the same fees to the town for future problems in that area.
ReplyDeleteHow old is that pump ? I figure it is probably toward the end of it's life. That is more than likely why the push to have the Town take it over. That is a good number of homes for one pump to take care of. I give the Planning Board credit for asking questions. That is their job.
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ReplyDeleteAt least limit the stipen to only 1/4 of what they are now. Being the tax payers pay 3/4 of the bills in the sewer department why pay a stipend to only them. All others do it for free. No other tax dollars go to commissioners. The light and water get 1500.00 and they do 2 departments for it. Time to cut the 2000.00 sewer stipends to 500.00. Where they ever got it up to 2000.00 is a question people need to ask.
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