Homeowners question possible $20K sewer assessments

By John Howell
Posted 7/25/17

By JOHN HOWELL Few disputed Thursday evening that the rest of Governor Francis Farms should get sewers, but many questioned why they should cost almost $20,000 per single-family home when folks just down the street paid assessments based on $82 per

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Homeowners question possible $20K sewer assessments

Posted

Few disputed Thursday evening that the rest of Governor Francis Farms should get sewers, but many questioned why they should cost almost $20,000 per single-family home when folks just down the street paid assessments based on $82 per linear foot in front of their properties. Depending on the frontage of a lot, the difference could be $12,000 or even more.

The Warwick Sewer Authority held the informational session on Phase III of the farms project, designed to bring sewers to about 270 homes, at the Pilgrim Senior Center. About 100 people attended, with many of them stopping outside the meeting room to talk with engineers and look over maps as to where best for their homes to link to the system.

“We’re not happy with the cost,” said Laura Pisaturo, who depends on a cesspool for disposal of wastewater, “but I think sewers make sense.”

The projected cost of Governor Francis Phase III is $5 million, consisting of 18,300 linear feet of gravity sewers, a pump station and 2,300 feet of a four-inch force main. Design has been completed and the project is out for bids. Construction is projected to start as soon as December and take about 18 months to complete. Among the 21 streets where homes will gain access to sewers include Apple Tree Lane, Dahlia Street, Mashuena Drive and portions of Squantum and Pocahontas Drives.

Janine Burke-Wells, executive director of the Warwick Sewer Authority, acknowledged that previous sewer assessments had been subsidized through federal grants or, quite honestly, didn’t accurately reflect the cost. Under the system now used to calculate assessments, in place of a per-linear foot charge where larger lot owners would pay more than their neighbors, there is a per-unit charge. The amount of the assessment is arrived at by dividing the project cost by the number of housing units served. The system has provisions for multi-family units as well as commercial users.

Burke-Wells didn’t refute Farms’ resident Roger Durand’s conclusion that those residents benefiting from Phase I and Phase II were “under assessed.”

The matter of the inequity of assessments, least of all that residents should pay an assessment, troubled Ward 1 Councilman Richard Corley. Corley said a general obligation bond, approved by the voters and repaid by the city, should pay for this and other sewer extensions, as sewers are a community-wide benefit.

“I don’t understand how those who hooked up in the front years got a free ride,” he said. “This has been very unfair.”

“I won’t argue with you,” responded Burke-Wells.

Gary Marino, a member of the sewer authority board, pointed out that the reconstruction of roads following installation of sewers is a costly aspect of the project and one that he thought should be paid by the city since the roads benefit a broader community and the city is responsible for their upkeep and replacement. Eliminating the expense of repaving, he estimated, could reduce assessments by 15 to 20 percent.

Marino also suggested the City Council could alter provisions for circuit breaker relief to financially-strapped homeowners as a means of providing financial relief. While the authority gained enabling legislation empowering it to offer 30-year assessment loans, Burke-Wells said the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank loan it has obtained for the project is a 20-year loan and therefore a 30-year plan would not be in the offing. In providing the loans, WSA is restricted to charging an interest rate no greater than 1.25 percent more than what it is paying to borrow the money.

In an interview prior to the meeting, Burke-Wells said she is hopeful the authority can award a contract at its Aug. 24 meeting.

“It’s as fair as possible,” she said of the assessment system. “I think we did a pretty good job.”

On other projects, Burke-Wells said the Bayside project that will provide sewer access to 850 housing units is still in design and she is hopeful will be ready to go out to bid in the spring. This project has been especially drawn out because of Native American artifacts found in the path of the lines and issues raised by the Narragansett Tribe. Working from pits in the course of the sewer lines, the plan calls for directional drilling that won’t disturb the archaeological features above.

She said design of the Northwest Gorton Pond project is 75 percent completed and that the O’Donnell Hill project that will link to West Warwick sewers would go out for bid next year.

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  • davebarry109

    In other words....screw you guys. We got ours, you guys pay up. The sewer authority should help identify the previous directors who deliberately failed in their jobs (five directors in six or seven years) and the city should bring them before the council and allow the public to see them questioned. They should be shamed publicly.

    Monday, July 31, 2017 Report this