Phase One Sewer Deadline Nears

ORLEANS – With a deadline looming, approximately 70 percent of property owners in the first phase of sewer construction downtown have connected to town sewer or are in the process of doing so. But those who fail to comply could potentially risk financial penalties if they don’t.

Property owners are looking at a March 16 deadline to connect to the town’s wastewater treatment facility on Overland Way. The town first notified property owners in the phase one sewer area of their need to connect by letter two years ago.

Last March, the board of water and sewer commissioners approved a one-year extension of the connection deadline, citing the high demand for engineers and contractors to perform the connections.

Alex Fitch, the town’s director of health and human services, said the 71 percent of customers in compliance include those who have completed their connections as well as those that are in the process of completion. Those account for 217 of the 306 properties expected to connect in phase one, she said. An additional 15 undeveloped parcels are exempt from connecting, while seven other property owners have deferred their connections, Fitch said.

That leaves 69 property owners that the town considers not connected as of early February, Fitch said. In some cases, property owners have refused to comply with the order to connect.

Fitch said those who have not connected by the March 16 deadline will be issued a letter summoning them to a show cause hearing before the board of health, which she said likely will be held in early April. She said the hearing will allow property owners to make a case to the board for why they need more time to complete their connections.

“From there it will be determined if a fine is appropriate,” she said.

Owners in violation of the connection order can be fined up to $200 per day by the board of health, but Fitch said the board is not bound to issue a daily fine. She said the town would rather work with property owners to help them make their connections rather than issuing fines for non-compliance.

“We’re doing everything in our power to not get to that point with these properties,” she said. “But we’ll see what happens.”

But Fitch said gains have been made in the past year in the way of connections. In February 2024, 75 percent of phase one property owners had yet to connect to the town system, she noted. 

“I think that extra year for people was key,” she said. ”I think it gave people the opportunity to put a plan in place and then move forward with that.” Fitch also credited John Nelson, the town’s sewer program coordinator, with helping get property owners on their way toward connecting to the sewer system.

With construction due to be completed on the second phase of sewering in the area of Meetinghouse Pond later this year, those property owners will soon get their letters directing them to connect. With one round of connections almost behind them, Fitch said the hope is that the connection process will be easier for property owners moving into phase two and beyond.

“We’ve certainly learned a lot in this process,” she said.