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| Sewer Topics | |
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Provincetown's Wastewater Solution Final Phase I Sewer Betterments
to be assessed: $33.68 per GPD..
The Board of Selectmen voted on January 12, 2004 to approve the
Water & Sewer Board's assessing a final Phase I sewer betterment
of $16.87-million, with some $2.7-million in costs to be carried
over as a betterment to be assessed on properties hooking-up in
the future.This apportionment will produce a Phase I betterment
figure of $33.68 per gallon per day (GPD) of Title 5 design flow
for those properties hooking up to sewer in Phase I-representing
some 500,982 GPDs. The assessment of a final Phase I betterment
will complete the action begun by the estimated pre-construction
betterment issued in the Fall of 2002. The Town has identified some
$19.57-million in total costs associated with the design and construction
of the wastewater system as it exists now. Of these, some $16.87-million
can fairly be attributed to those hooking up in Phase I. But another
$2.7-million is more properly borne by properties which hook up
to the sewer in a future phase-even if that is only the "Phase
I-A", so called, which will result from hooking up unallocated
system capacity, after a year or so of DEP review. Liens. Read the statement issued by Town Counsel relative to sewer betterment liens. New Sewer Rules
and Regulations. The
Provincetown Water and Sewer Board held a public meeting Thursday
March 20, 2003 in the Second Floor Meeting Room, Senior Center,
Grace Gouveia Building, 26 Alden Street, Provincetown MA 02657 and
then and there amended and adopted the following Sewer Rules and
Regulations related primarily to the connection of properties to
the municipal sewer system. Click
here for complete details. Sewer Pre-Construction Betterment Bills. Those property owners hooking up to the sewer have received their preconstruction sewer betterments from the Town of Provincetown. Bills were sent out on October 4, 2002 and first payments will be due by November 4, 2002. The Water & Sewer Board had voted on August 27, 2002 to assess pre-construction betterments for the sewer system.The pre-construction betterment is based on 50% of the total estimated sewer project cost of $16,111,896.26, certified by the Water & Sewer Board. Spread across 498,072 gallons per day (GPD) of committed wastewater flows, that's $32.35 per GPD. A property can opt to pay its share either in a lump sum or spread out over a period of up to 20 years. For a 3-bedroom home, that's either paying (330 GPDs x $32.35 x 50% =) $5,337.75 now, or 1/20th of that amount-- $266.89-each year over 20 years. The post-construction assessment will add the balance of the project costs onto each property's betterment. That final betterment assessment will be based on the sewer project's actual total costs. The following information is contained on the sewer bill notice:
Special Act Passed on Sewer Betterment Interest Rate. On August 5, 2002, Acting Governor Jane Swift signed into law Chapter 204 of the Acts of 2002, An Act Relative to Betterment Assessments in the Town of Provincetown, which had received final enactment by the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives on July 29, 2002. This home rule legislation allows Provincetown to pass the benefits of our 0% loan under the State Revolving Fund program onto our sewer users. In approving funds for sewer construction funding and authorizing the Water & Sewer Board to assess 100% of the project cost to its users, Article 2 of the April 1, 2001 Special Town Meeting also authorized the filing of a bill to authorize Provincetown "to assess interest on apportionments of sewer betterment assessments at a rate equal to the rate of interest chargeable to the town for the betterment project to which the assessments relate." That is, since the Town is getting a 0% loan under the SRF program, the interest we would charge the sewer users for their betterments is 0%. Without this special legislation, the General Laws require the Town to charge 5% interest on the unpaid betterment balance. Click for bill status.
Discontinuance of Route 6 in Provincetown. The Massachusetts Board of Highway Commissioners has voted to discontinue Route 6 in Provincetown as a state highway and to transfer to the Town of Provincetown all of the roadway and portions of the adjoining property for wastewater disposal areas. View the discontinuance plan (8 sheets - PDF files)
Amended Sewer Hook-up Regulations. The Water & Sewer Board has amended its regulations for the connection of properties to the Provincetown municipal sewer system. Sewer Settlement Reached. On Thursday, October 11, 2001, the Town of Provincetown reached a settlement agreement which will allow the sewer project to proceed on schedule, towards a system commencement date by the summer of 2003. Click for details. Wastewater Newsletter. Read about the progress being made on the sewer project in this July 2001Wastewater Newsletter - pdf file. The Town submitted its final design plans for the sewer to DEP on October 15, 2001 in order to capture a $16.5-million 0%-interest loan under the State Revolving Fund. Design/Build/Operate Contract. On June 15, 2001, the Board of Selectmen voted, pursuant to Chapter 191 of the Acts of 2000 and Article 3 of the April 2, 2001 Special Town Meeting to authorize the Town Manager to execute a twenty-year wastewater service agreement with Metcalf & Eddy of Wakefield, Massachusetts in the amount of $15,013,611 to design, build, and operate a sewer system for the Town of Provincetown. Click here for an article-by-article summary of this 80+ page contract. The full contract is on file in Provincetown Town Hall. Wastewater Design-Build-Operate Bid Results: Total Project Cost $16.5-million; Metcalf & Eddy Bid "Most Advantageous" Sewer District. Chapter 157 of the Acts of 2000 authorizes Provincetown's first-of-its-kind "checker-board" sewer district. Under this unique legislation, Provincetown will assess betterments only on those properties which hook up to the sewer-- rather than mandating hook-ups and betterments for all properties abutting the sewer line, as state law requires for all other communities in Massachusetts. The Water & Sewer Board has adopted Connection Regulations governing sewer connections; and the Board of Health has adopted Wastewater Regulations.
Other Resouces:
For more information contact:
A few of the files listed above are available in Adobe Acrobat format (identified as "pdf"), requiring Acrobat Reader.Click to obtain a free copy of Acrobat Reader |
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