'A rate disaster': Here's why Buzzards Bay sewer users may see a steep rate hike

Mar. 3—BUZZARDS BAY — Development stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic could have an expensive trickle-down effect on sewer users in Buzzards Bay.

Selectmen, in their role as the town's sewer commissioners, are tasked with finding ways to make up the money lost in anticipated sewer tie-ins — otherwise, those already tied into the system will see hikes in their sewer rates.

If a solution is not reached before summer, the close to 1,100 sewer users in Buzzards Bay will be strapped with an estimated increase of $500 to cover the cost of the new wastewater facility at Queen Sewell Park, which is expected to come online later this year.

"How do we get ahead of, really, what I think is a rate disaster?" Sewer Commission Chairman James Potter said last week during a meeting held via video conference.

A number of projects that were expected to come online this year have not been able to due to the pandemic. But the significant rate increases projected in Buzzards Bay will hurt ratepayers, Sewer Commissioner Jared MacDonald said.

"We all know some things don't come to fruition the way they are projected," he said. "There has to be a repair process."

Sewer rates for 2020 were decreased from $1,051 to $924 after voters approved supplementing the sewer enterprise fund at town meeting in November. But the increase would increase that figure to $1,424 per user. Town meeting voters will have to approve the rate hike at the upcoming town meeting in May.

"It has to be rethought, and we need to come up with a way to correct it," MacDonald said. "It is not just a sewer project, it is economic development."

Bourne owns and operates a municipal sewer system that collects wastewater from 604 residential and commercial parcels in the downtown, Taylor Point and Hideaway Village areas, according to a town report from February 2020.

The existing sewer system, which was constructed in the early 1990s, consists of collection and pumping facilities, and all wastewater is sent to the town of Wareham for disposal, according to the report. Water is provided by the Buzzards Bay Water District.

The system's capacity is limited to 200,000 gallons per day by the town's intermunicipal agreement with Wareham, which is valid through February 2030.

In response to strong commercial growth in the downtown area, Bourne moved forward with the design and construction of its own municipal wastewater treatment plant. The new treatment plant has a capacity of 100,000 gallons per day, which would increase the total sewer capacity for the town to 300,000 gallons per day.

When the town voted four years ago to approve the project at Queen Sewell Park, there were only 7,000 available gallons of wastewater per day to allocate to new projects, Potter said at the Feb. 23 meeting. The thought was that as new users came online, the rates would be stabilized, he said.

Potter said the town learned recently that the town's sewer usage by gallon is running under the system's capacity. It is closer to 110,000 out of the allotted 200,000, he said.

There was also a plan to connect to the sewage system approximately 80 homes currently on septic or cesspools that discharge into Buttermilk Bay, Potter said, but that never materialized.

The new treatment plant has estimated operating costs of $250,000 a year, the report says. There also are costs related to paying down debt on the project.

Apart from bringing more users onto the system, the only way to avoid increasing sewer rates would be to somehow share the cost with the rest of the town, Potter said.

There is about $600,000 in retained earnings in the sewer enterprise fund, Potter said at the meeting. The fund needs to grow immensely for it to be maintained and be able to pay for the new sewer system.

After the town conducted an audit on its intermunicipal agreement with Wareham, it was found that even if the town reduced capacity the savings would not be significant, Potter said. The audit also found that Wareham was overbilling the town, but it cost the town lawyer fees to figure that out, he said.

"We need to work with (the town of Wareham) as an insurance policy until we figure something out," Sewer Commissioner Judith Froman said Feb. 23. "We have an arrangement with them and we need to optimize that."

Town Administrator Anthony Schiavi noted that commissioners shouldn't be looking at ways to continue to supplement the sewer enterprise fund.

Whenever a project is built based on economic development, one has to take into account what happens in the real world, Schiavi said, and the town needs to be careful not to rely too much on projects in development to help sustain the fund.

"The whole deck of cards that was built can come crumbling down," Schiavi said. "We don't have a lot of escape access. What are we going to do if our assumptions don't work out?"

The town is in the midst of developing a comprehensive wastewater management plan with Environmental Partners, an engineering and consulting firm, which is expected to take two years to complete.

The comprehensive plan will look at wastewater solutions for all of Bourne, including the Buzzards Bay district, Potter said in a phone interview. It will also look at a number of solutions that might not necessarily include the Buzzards Bay Coalition regional plan between Marion, Wareham, portions of Plymouth and Massachusetts Maritime Academy, he said.

"We don't want to be committed to any one specific project," Potter said. "We want to look at the entire town and look at what is best."

With a canal going through the middle of town, Bourne has some geographical challenges, Potter said. The logistics on how to plan wastewater management are difficult, he said.

The Sewer Commission has been part of discussions about the regional plan spearheaded by the Buzzards Bay Coalition, Potter said. Although there has been some negative feedback on the project on social media and from some members of the community, he said the plan is just one proposal the commission is considering.

While not a town project, the coalition's plan involves Bourne, and the town wants to be part of the discussion, Potter said.

"Regardless of where the studies take place ... the conversation has to be in the community," he said.

Contact Beth Treffeisen at btreffeisen@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @BTreffeisenCCT.

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