Board Leaning Toward Town Paying For Grinder Pumps

CHATHAM – After hearing recommendations from two town committees, the select board is leaning toward the town picking up the cost of grinder pumps for residents along the sewer line. However, details — such as whether the town will assume connection and maintenance costs — are still being worked out.

Both the water and sewer advisory committee and summer residents advisory committee (SRAC) recommended that the town cover the cost of grinder pumps, which are required when a property is on a low-pressure sewer line or lies below the grade of a gravity feed sewer main.

About 1,000 properties throughout town will require grinder pumps, said water and sewer advisory committee chair Jeff Colby. The units, which give effluent a boost from a home to the sewer line along the street, cost about $10,000 on the open market. If the town provides the pumps, it could negotiate a lower price, potentially saving $2,000 to $3,000 per unit, he said.

“If we’re going to maximize the use of the system by the use of grinder pumps, then we should provide grinder pumps,” Colby told the select board Nov. 12. 

Both groups reasoned that since every sewer connection benefits the whole community by helping to clean up coastal waters, it makes sense for the cost of grinder pumps to be picked up through the tax base. Colby noted that the strategy was recommended in the town’s comprehensive wastewater management plan.

However, the committees disagreed on whether the town should cover the cost of grinder pump installation, which can run to several thousand dollars. The water and sewer advisory committee recommended that the town subsidize just the cost of the grinder pumps, while SRAC members suggested that the town also pay for installation. The town should also take responsibility for repairs, said SRAC chair Jeff Spalter. 

“This is an issue that impacts a broad resident base,” he said, not just summer residents. It’s a quality of life issue, he added; all residents benefit from properties being on the sewer, so it makes sense to spread the cost out through the tax rate, he said.

Other costs that need to be taken into consideration include repairs, upgrades to electrical systems if needed, and whether to provide generators to homeowners or have a town service to provide generator connections when power is out. Grinder pumps have limited storage and can render a home unusable if power is out for any length of time.

 Select board members weren’t ready to vote on a firm policy at the Nov. 12 session. The issue is “not uncomplicated,” Jeff Dykens pointed out, adding that “we’ve got to keep the overall mission [in mind]... we’re trying to clean up nitrogen in our waters.”

 Many questions remain unanswered, said board member Shareen Davis. Some residents might not be able to afford installation and maintenance costs of grinder pumps.

 “We haven’t had a big enough discussion about that to even answer this question,” she said.

 The town assuming the cost of grinder pumps would add $15 to $20 million to the overall cost of sewers, said board member Dean Nicastro. He said he had to pay $16,000 to connect to a gravity sewer line to avoid having to install a grinder pump, “so I have some understanding” of the situation. A town policy should consider subsidizing grinder pumps for those on both low-pressure and gravity sewer lines, if topography requires the device. If the town adopts such a policy, it should apply retroactively to those who have already installed grinder pumps, he added.

 He said he would not support the town paying for engineering, installation and connection costs, since property owners on gravity systems are required to pay those costs themsleves.

 In some cases, the town chose to have low-pressure sewer lines in order to save money, since they cost less than gravity lines. Property owners had no say in those decisions, even though they dictate who needs grinder pumps and who doesn’t, Dykens said.

 “We really need to have a mind toward equity and toward fairness,” he said.

 Chair Michael Schell agreed that equity is a concern and said that officials need to get a better handle on the cost impact to the overall sewer program. 

 Town Manager Jill Goldsmith said staff can develop a draft policy and provide options and information regarding costs. Nicastro suggested she present that information to the board in a few weeks directly, rather than running it by the advisory committees. It would not be productive to have those groups working on a parallel track with the select board, he said.