For years the Warwick Sewer Authority has sought to gain approval of a connect capable fee that would charge property owners for not tying into the sewer system. Now, rather than using a stick, the authority is looking to a carrot.

The authority will consider a proposal Thursday to waive the first year service fees of all homeowners who connect to the sewers this year. For the average homeowner, this amounts to a savings of about $500.

The authority provides service to more than 23,000 customers, but there are about 2,000 homeowners who are still using cesspools or septic systems, even though sewers run alongside their property, said authority director Janine Burke-Wells. With more users the authority has greater revenues to operate the system, thus reducing the burden for all.

As important, the system was designed for maximum usage and unless there is an adequate flow of wastewater it is inefficient. Insufficient flow has resulted in odors and the buildup of hydrogen sulfide gas that deteriorate pipes, causing leaks and the breakdown of pumping stations.

Connect capable fees in the hundreds of dollars a year have been proposed as a means of addressing the problem. It was one of the proposals advocated by the City Council Sewer Review Commission. It was dropped from the commission’s final proposals when it became evident it didn’t have the council votes to pass. The threat of what could be viewed as mandatory connections also prompted state legislation giving property owners the freedom of choice.

Yet it is legislation that has furthered efforts to enhance connections.

By law, property owners are required to tie into sewers when selling. Over time, Burke-Wells said that has done a lot to improve connections, although she couldn’t provide specific numbers. She said there were 170 new service connections last year.

“That’s just pathetic,” she said.

In wrestling with the issue of enhancing connections, Burke-Wells said the authority’s finance committee, chaired by Gary Jarvis, considered payment for the physical connection. Apart from usage fees that are based on water usage, a deterrent to connecting to the system is the cost of a drain layer to lay a pipe from the sewer to the house and align that to the home’s plumbing. Costs vary, but an amount of $1,500 to $2,000 is considered in the ballpark.

Burke-Wells said the committee has also looked at a customer assistance program working with the city’s division of human services. Being discussed is a discount for low income and elderly hardship cases that would be funded through something akin to the Good Neighbor Energy Fund that in part is sponsored by National Grid and provides energy assistance.

The one-year usage waiver, Burke-Wells said, would not apply to the repair and replacement fee, or R&R fee. Based on usage, the fee is about $25 a year for the average user. The fee was increased in recent years to address repairs to an aging system.

“If you don’t take off things this is what happens,” said Burke-Wells.

Also on Thursday the authority is expected to award the contract for Phase III of Governor Francis Farms sewers that was delayed over the zoning for the pumping station. Burke-Wells said construction is projected to start shortly. As for other sewer construction projects on the drawing board, Burke-Wells said the O’Donnell Hill project in Ward 8 would be advertised for bids this year and that design for the northwest Gorton and Bayside projects should be ready for bid in 2019.