Sewer bill finally on way to state legislators

John Howell
Posted 4/9/15

It didn’t happen last year and it seemed like there was a conspiracy to stop it from happening this year when a bomb threat forced the City Council to adjourn Monday.

After reconvening the …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Sewer bill finally on way to state legislators

Posted

It didn’t happen last year and it seemed like there was a conspiracy to stop it from happening this year when a bomb threat forced the City Council to adjourn Monday.

After reconvening the following evening, it appeared legislation allowing the Warwick Sewer Authority to revamp how it calculates assessments among a variety of other procedures would get shoved on the back burner for another year. But then, with a couple of amendments, the measure passed unanimously.

The enabling legislation must still gain General Assembly approval, an action Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur is hopeful will come before the session adjourns this spring or early summer.

Ladouceur, who created and then headed the Council Sewer Review Commission, was anxious to get the enabling legislation through the council this month so there is time for state lawmakers to likewise consider and act on it. Had it not been approved Tuesday, council consideration would have been postponed to May.

For a while Tuesday evening it even looked like the legislation was dead in the water.

And then there was the bomb threat, the first in the memory of veteran council members.

Shortly before 9 p.m. on Monday, as school business officer Anthony Ferrucci was concluding an update on the school budget, Col. Stephen McCartney, who was in the audience, approached City Council President Donna Travis. Calmly, Travis interrupted Ferrucci and informed the audience that on the advice of police she was asking for the building to be evacuated.

McCartney said the following morning that the department received a call from a man that two bombs in City Hall were timed to detonate that evening. McCartney said the call was recorded and that police are investigating.

McCartney said he attempted to get a K-9 unit from the airport to respond, but it was not available. It wasn’t for at least another hour before a state police K-9 based in Newport could be brought to City Hall. A building sweep was completed by 11, the chief said.

Once outside, the council and about 50 people who had been in the audience gathered in the parking lot in the glow of flashing red and blue lights. With all but two of his colleagues gathered around him – the two had split to get coffee – Ward 4 Councilman Joseph Solomon made the motion to continue the meeting on Tuesday.

On Tuesday the police presence was especially noticeable. The city’s K-9 unit made more than one sweep of the building. Officers were in and outside the building. McCartney said there hadn’t been a second threat, but police were taking no chances.

The enabling legislation, which is watered down from last year’s version, encountered some of the criticism it did last year from many of the same critics. They spoke during the Intergovernmental Committee hearing on the bill.

“I’ve never seen such a fiasco as this connect capable. I don’t want to hook up. I have two cesspools,” said resident James Boyajian. He labeled the bill “extortion” and said “it is going to put people out of their homes.”

Ladouceur pointed out that the sewer authority currently has the ability to implement a connect capable fee, a fee people capable of tying into sewers but choosing not to would pay.

“It’s not new. It’s in the ordinance now,” he said.

Roger Durand argued the connect capable provision should be removed from the ordinance as it runs counter to the spirit of legislation introduced by Rep. Joseph McNamara and Senator Michael McCaffrey. That measure prohibits mandatory connections. The McCaffrey bill requires properties with cesspools to connect to sewers when the property is sold.

On Tuesday night Ward 9 Councilman Steve Merolla argued for removal of the connect capable provision of the legislation and for addition of minor wording suggested by Michelle Komar, the public member of the review commission.

Ladouceur held out for the legislation as written. Merolla then called for a fiscal note on the legislation, an action that would have required additional study and effectively eliminated the possibility of the measure reaching the General Assembly in time for passage this year.

Ladouceur backed down and, with the legislation amended, Merolla dropped his call for a fiscal note.

Such high stakes political bargaining didn’t come into play at Monday’s committee hearing.

On Monday, Governor Francis Farm resident Gene Nadeau argued many people in his neighborhood where additional sewer expansion is planned are elderly and live alone.

“Don’t make them pay for something they don’t want. Leave the taxpayer alone in the City of Warwick,” he said.

Stacia Huyler, who ran in a Republican primary last year against Scott Avedisian, claimed that city costs are putting people out of their homes. “They can’t afford to live here,” she said.

Not all those who spoke were in opposition to the legislation. Warwick Neck resident Jane Austin encouraged passage of the measure, saying the process of commission meetings leading up to council approval of $33 million in bonding for extension of sewers and $23 million to upgrade the treatment plant had been thorough.

“Allow the sewer authority to move forward and establish an equitable process,” she said.

Joseph Stanelun, who has lived in Highland Beach overlooking Narragansett Bay for 33 years, said the neighborhood was meant to get sewers in the 1990s. He said the cesspool is pumped two and three times a year, yet it still backs up. Building a septic system would be costly and may not work anyhow because of the lot size.

Reached yesterday, Ladouceur was disappointed after so many months of work and meetings the measure was not approved as presented to the council. Without a connect capable provision, Ladouceur fears that the 22,000 sewer users will be saddled with the burden of carrying infrastructure upgrades without the help of those who have access to the system but choose not to connect.

“The challenge now is to protect the 22,000 and to keep it affordable,” he said.

But Ladouceur also sees a bright side to all the work that has gone into reviewing sewer authority operations and plans to extend sewers to neighborhoods where homeowners depend on cesspools and failing septic systems.

The enabling legislation will give the sewer authority the ability to revise the current linear foot method of assessments; develop a plan for hardship cases; lower assessment interest rates and expand the period of payment from 20 to 30 years; and develop incentives for property owners to tie into the sewer system.

Comments

5 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here

  • Ken B

    Building a storm drain and catch basin system in these bayside areas would be less expensive. Storm drain systems do not have to be connected to homes and businesses and could be constructed using horozontal directional drilling techniques (HDD). Storm water would be directed to near surface storage tanks where it would be stored until it could be processed at the sewage plant or at a constructed wetland system. To be fair, all stakehoders should pay their fair share for the construction of sewage systems. The EPA, the DEM, Save The Bay, the State of Rhode Island, the city of Warwick, home owners and businesses should each pay an equal share of these sewage construction costs.

    Thursday, April 9, 2015 Report this

  • HerbTokerman

    two hours to be able to sweep a building for bombs?

    glad to see we're really prepared for some kind of an attack...

    Thursday, April 9, 2015 Report this

  • davebarry109

    Great. Here comes my bill for 20-30 grand. For sewers.

    Friday, April 10, 2015 Report this

  • wwkvoter

    I believe that Joseph Stanelun is incorrect, I have not seen a lot too small for the self contained mini sewer plant systems. One in fact, is in a basement, the outflow is almost pure water. BUT those are costly, $20k and up. But it is an option. That being said, in my opinion everyone should connect. That will drive the cost down per user. As far as frontage though, the assessment should NOT penalize corner lots, it should be per dwelling not per foot of frontage. My 2 cents.

    Friday, April 10, 2015 Report this

  • JStanelun

    I wasn't quoted 100% accurately, but it was the overall point that was most important. I have been told by some people that are in similar situation as myself, but have properties smaller than my own, that it would be impossible for them to get a conventional septic system. Regardless it's good to see the City fulfilling the promise it made to Ward 5 residents decades ago.

    Friday, April 10, 2015 Report this