The lament is frequently that municipal taxpayers are forced to pick up the tab of state or federally enforced regulations. That is often the case, and most such complaints are justified.

But that wasn’t the immediate cry when the city administration presented the City Council with a consent agreement reached with the Department of Environmental Management that is responsible for overseeing federal environmental regulations. Indeed, Ward 9 Councilman Steve Merolla made to pitch to DEM Director Janet Coit that she lobby the state for additional funding to assist municipalities.

Rather than recoiling at directives that the city adhere to conditions of a 2008 stormwater management permit, councilors said it’s about time the issue be addressed. In words that have a similar ring to what he has said about the extension of city sewers, Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur said the city has “kicked the can down the road for too long.”

The task faced by the city doesn’t look to be easy.

City engineers are in the process of mapping an estimated 500 or more drainage outfalls. Once identified, a process of sampling water from each of them will begin. In cases where it is thought illicit drains, maybe even septic and cesspool overflows, have been tied in, the city will need to work backward from the outflow to identify the source and take corrective action.

The city has also agreed to increase measures to mitigate pollutants from reaching the bay, streams, and ponds, including cleaning of catch basins, street sweeping, and ordinances placing controls on development and how it can impact erosion and water runoff.

The city could have contested the notice of violation, and it surely would have bought time and incurred court expenses. Wisely, Mayor Scott Avedisian chose a different course. Rather than fight a battle the city had little chance of winning, he worked to see how the city might cooperate in meeting the ultimate objective of the law – cleaner waters. He used the city’s only bargaining chip – time. He argued for sufficient time to accomplish the conditions spelled out by DEM. It’s doubtful that he got all he wanted, and given the extensive list of things to be done, it appears meeting DEM deadlines will be costly [$100,000 is allocated in the budget] and may stretch department staffs.

Coit offered no hope of delaying or altering the agreement, not that the council was looking for that. She said it is a “package” and it wouldn’t be amended.

This is not going to be an easy pill for the city to swallow, but as environmentalists and our elected office recognize, it’s time we pay more attention to healing our environment.