Things I Left Alone

I’d like to touch on a few other aspects to the sewer district extension that I didn’t comment on last night.

We have been trying to secure drainage relief and road repair in this latest effort since October 2004 when NAG was founded. We’ve endured many setbacks, unfulfilled promises, and numerous studies along the way. We’ve been patient though, even when confronted with the permutation that included this sewer district extension.

I don’t understand how the Town isn’t prepared to bid the construction costs after so much elapsed time. The sewers were supposed to be an added consideration, not an impediment to proceeding. Now the referendum won’t take place until June 10th and no matter if sewers pass or fail, there will be no progress for at least 6 months optimistically. That means we miss yet another construction season. I’m beyond words to express my disappointment and frustration at that turn of events.

I purposely avoided drainage comment as much as possible last night since the hearing was focused on the sewer aspect. But one interesting point that needs to be explored is what the additional $40,000 paid to study a proposed land acquisition for drainage paths got us beyond further delay last year. No mention has been made about it and all of a sudden we need another 6 months minimum to rework costs? I suspect the land deal is somehow contingent on the Town getting the sewer district extended first.

Let’s assume for a moment that sewers are approved by residents. That’s fine with me ultimately despite my cost objections. I’m a financial guy who knows how to navigate those waters to my own personal satisfaction. The problem is that we still can’t do the project this season. Costs will increase again and now the approval impact could be much different financially for many. More importantly, approval of sewers will now inextricably link us to the Helderberg Meadows project schedule. With the real estate market what it is currently, what happens to our project if Helderberg Meadows progress slows or stops altogether? In addition, ACOE still needs to sign off on permits for Helderberg Meadows and the anticipation of getting that approval soon is pure speculation. That comment period dates back to early 2005 and I’ve been calling them periodically ever since for status.

Many other salient points were raised by my neighbors. For instance, where is the Highway Superintendent input? He’s an elected official that doesn’t seem to feel a need to participate directly in this discussion. What is the accuracy of the estimates? Already estimates have risen substantially three times over the last year. Additionally, some residents have indicated they will not need a grinder pump according to the engineer but when they explored connection costs on their own discovered that indeed they would need one because their lateral would meet the gravity pipe street connection too low. To imply that connection costs will be typical is misleading because the way the homes were built will require a costly retrofit to connect.

We considered the sewer proposal in good faith because it made sense to consider it, especially when we were assured that consideration could occur without further derailment of the intended drainage and road repair relief. Unfortunately, we are now finding out otherwise.