By this time construction was supposed to have started on the third and final phase of Gov. Francis Farm sewers.

Design of the project that will give 270-property owners access to sewers is complete and C.B. Utility, low bidder at $4.99 million, is the preferred contractor. Everything appeared to be in place for work to begin with the exception of one detail: the authority didn’t own the land nor was it properly zoned for a key component of the project, a pumping station at the end of Lansdowne Road.

That was not thought to be a stumbling block. The 126 by 79-foot lot is being carved out of a parcel owned by the Spring Green Corporation. The larger parcel bridges a small brook and extends south to West Shore Road to include the lot for Walgreens at Hoxsie Four Corners. The authority has an agreement with Spring Green, and last week the Planning Department signed off on a subdivision of the larger lot showing the pumping station site.

As part of the transaction, the city talked about gaining an easement running parallel to the pumping station and about 350 feet across the wooded lot to West Shore Road wide enough for a bike path. This would provide a link, avoiding Hoxsie Four Corners, between Governor Francis Farm and Hoxsie to a larger city bike route.

To his disappointment, City Planner William DePasquale said the easement was not on the subdivision plan when he received it. Warwick Sewer Authority executive director Janine Burke-Wells confirmed that the easement is not part of the agreement with Spring Green.

Yet, the Warwick Sewer Authority is still a step away from awarding a contract and starting construction. It needs Warwick Zoning Board of Review approval, which would appear to be academic. Playing it safe, WSA should wait an additional 20 days for the appeal period to expire. The Zoning Board of Review is scheduled to consider the request for a special use at its Dec. 12 meeting.

These delays promise to push the award of the contract beyond the three months C.B. Utility agreed to honor its bid for the work. Burke-Wells said Friday that C.B. Utility agreed to extend its contract another two months, which she is hopeful would give the time to complete the transaction for the pumping station site.

Given no further complications, Burke-Wells doesn’t expect any pipe in the ground until March or April of next year. The project would be completed in about 18 months.

Burke-Wells said assessments for Phase III of Governor Francis Farm are projected at $20,000 per property owner. This differs significantly from assessments under the first two phases that were based on a linear foot charge of $52 under Phase I and $82 for Phase II. That method of assessment was considered inequitable since whether a property owner had 50 feet of frontage on sewers or 200, they were both a single service. Under changes in WSA regulations, a per-service assessment will be implemented going forward.

To lessen the burden of assessments, Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur advocates that the cost of repaving roads following the installation of sewers be paid, if not shared, by the city. In the case of the C.B. Utility bid, $1.2 million is for bituminous patch and permanent pavement overlay amounting to 24 percent of the overall cost of the project. Removing this from the assessment could mean about a $5,000 reduction in assessments.