SEWER MEETING

Thanks to many of you who came to the presentation by the North Reading Waste Water and Stormwater Advisory Committee.

It was very informative.  Below I'm going to try to summarize what was said.  There will be more presentations and the plan is still changing so none of this is quite written in stone yet.

 

If all goes well we could have sewer in 3 years.  IF the town supports it, if the article is ready for next April Town Meeting, IF many, many of you and others show up to vote in support, IF it needs an override and passes.  The idea is a year to get to a vote, then after a yes vote a year to plan, then a year to build.

 

Only streets in our area that need sewer will get it.  The exact plan is not yet released, but most likely if you are on a side street where there is ample room for a septic, they will not run sewer down your street.  Shore Rd, Travelled, Lakeside, Burroughs are definitely IN the plan.

 

Once a sewer connection is AVAILABLE to you, you then owe the Town a betterment.  Betterment means that your property and thus its value has been increased.  The betterment will be somewhere in the range of $10-15 thousand dollars and its payment can be spread over 20 years onto your taxes.

 

There is a question whether once the sewer is AVAILABLE to you, must you then hook up?  There may be an inspection required so that all failing systems must hook up.  For the sake of all our health we do not want failing systems to remain unimproved.

 

You will need to pay a plumber to hook you up, to pipe from your home's wastepipe to the sewer hookup at your lot line.  This could cost $2-3 thousand one time cost.  If we do this as a neighborhood, we will definitely get a better deal.

 

Then, once you start using the sewer, your water bill will reflect your sewer cost.  You are charged for water coming in at a higher rate because most of that water will go out in the sewer.  Sewer bills are typically $400-800 I think per year.  This I'm not totally clear on. 

 

Sump pumps cannot be hooked up to the sewer lines.  If you have further questions you may email our Water Superintendent Mark Clark at mclark@northreadingma.gov and he will be happy to addres your individual concerns.

 

We thank the Committee for coming to present to us, and look forward to seeing this move ahead.

 

Thanks,

Janet

Septic Program underway

35 people and counting have signed up for the discounted septic pumping.  That's great!

 

If you are waiting to hear from Bill Hickey of AB Septic to get yours done, don't worry. I talked to him last night and he said he will call and give you several days notice.  He said with all the response he will be pumping through April and maybe into May. He is very agreeable and if the date he assigns is not good for you just call him and he will accomodate.

 

Thanks,

Janet

Janet says "Be Safe!"

As you look at the beautiful open water and can't wait to venture out onto the pond in your canoe, kayak, or boat, please remember...

ALL BOATERS IN CANOES AND KAYAKS MUST WEAR FLOATATION DEVICES UNTIL MAY 15TH.

This is extremely important. Too many years the newspaper reports tragedies at this time of year when early season boaters drown due to crippling hypothermia when boats overturn and life jackets are not worn. The water may look wonderful, but it is still very, very cold.

Don't take the risk. See attached link for boating regulations in Massachusetts.

http://boat-ed.com/ma/handbook/pfds.htm

Public Meeting/Goodbye's

Hi,

The Martins Pond Reclamation Study Committee will hold a public meeting, this wednesday night, 7:30PM, April12th at Town Hall room 10.

 

We will discuss current and future programs, and the North Reading Wastewater and Stormwater Committee will give a presentation on the possibility of sewering around the pond in the future.

 

We also said good bye to our dear friend Frannie Mitchell last week, who passed away on April 1st.  Thank you to the many of you who attended his services.

 

Thanks,

Janet