Date: Fri 06-Oct-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

sewer-Main-St-Hurley

Full Text:

Engineers Collect Information For Main St Sewer Line Route

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

A group of engineers met this week to assess technical concerns posed by a

proposal to install sanitary sewer lines beneath Main Street to serve

properties on the east side of the thoroughfare.

Town Public Works Director Fred Hurley said the session held on October 2 at

the state Department of Transportation's (DOT) regional office in Thomaston

brought together egineers from the town, the DOT, and Fuss and O'Neill, which

is the town's consulting enginneering firm for the ongoing municipal sewering

project.

The meeting was closed to the public and the press.

"It was a technical meeting," Mr Hurley said October 3.

The engineering session came in light of recent pressure from residents who

support the preservation of the trees which line the east side of Main Street.

Burgess James Gaston recently led a petition drive calling for tree

protection, even if it means installing sewers for the east side of the street

beneath the street.

The Water Pollution Control Authority's (WPCA) current plans call for

installing sewers in the front yards of homes on the east side of the street.

Such a sewer line location would damage the roots of trees there, according to

Mr Gaston.

A separate sewer line will serve properties on the west side of the street.

Collecting Information

Attending the engineering session on October 2 allowed Fuss and O'Neill to

collect information from the DOT on what the DOT wants before it would allow a

sewer line to be installed beneath the street, Mr Hurley said. Having such

information available will allow Fuss and O'Neill to prepare cost estimates

for various possible sewer routes so that coamparisons can be made, according

to Mr Hurley.

Until the October 2 session, steps needed to install a sewer line beneath Main

Street instead of alongside were only the subject of "speculation," Mr Hurley

said. Mr Hurley has voiced support for sub-street sewers.

In recent months, Fuss and O'Neill and WPCA members have resisted public

pressure to design and build a sewer system with sewer lines beneath Main

Street, citing construction complexities, traffic problems and potential

safety hazards as reasons not to install sub-street sewers.

In considering the possible installation of sewers beneath the northbound

travel lane of Main Street, DOT officials want the town to provide traffic

flow information and a thorough explanation of the construction methods which

would be used, according to Mr Hurley. Traffic flow and the safety of

motorists and construcvtion workers are major issues for the DOT, he said.

It remains unclear when a final decision will be made on exactly where to

locate the sewer lines serving the east side of the street, Mr Hurley said.

WPCA members have said such a decision would come by late November to allow

Fuss and O'Neill to design that section of the sewer system for construction

next year.

DOT officials would consider how the various aspects of such a sewer

installation project would fit together before approving such work, Mr Hurley

said. A large measure of "common sense" is necessary in deciding how such a

sewer installation project would be done, he said.

DOT officials appear "amenable" to allowing the town to install sewers beneath

the street provided that the town meets the state's terms for such work,

according to Mr Hurley.

While the cost of work such as opening up the street, laying sewer pipe, and

refilling exposed trenches is relatively simple to calculate, aspects of a

project such as archaeological research, litigation, and easement acquisition

costs are much more difficult to estimate, Mr Hurley said.

It's been estimated that installing sewers beneath the street would cost

"several thousand dollars" more money than installing them in front yards

along the east side of Main Street.

Mr Hurley said he expects that some type of "hybrid route" eventually would be

selected for the east side of the street in which lengths of sewer pipe are

buried beneath the street in some areas and also "jog" beneath front yards in

other areas. Such a "combination" route would address the issues posed by tree

conservation and economic factors, he said. Mr Hurley noted that stormwater

sewers, natural gas lines, water lines, and telephone lines are installed in

the area.

Closed Session

When asked on September 29 whether the October 2 engineering meeting was open

to the public, Mr Hurley said it was "not a public meeting" and "not publicly

posted" as a public meeting.

The purpose of the session was "to absolutely delineate and define what the

state wants" to allow sewer installation beneath Main Street so that Fuss and

O'Neill could develop cost estimates for such work, according to Mr Hurley.

The purpose of the session was "to defuse the politicizing of this issue," he

said.

WPCA Chairman Peter Alagna said September 28 "We're trying to take this out of

the political arena and put it in the technical arena."

Mr Alanga said WPCA members will be exploring the details of both front yard

sewer routes and sub-street sewer routes for the east side of Main Street in

the weeks to come.

"It's not clear" how the burgesses recently-approved tree ordinance will apply

to the sewering project, Mr Alagna said.

Whether sewer mains are installed in front yards or under the streets,

installing sewer hookup lines to houses ostensibly would be subject to the

tree protection ordinance, according to Peter Grose, sewer project director

for Fuss and O'Neill.

The tree ordinance provides safeguards to prevent damage to trees in public

places in the borough.

WPCA member Gary Sheehan noted that where to place the sewers for the east

side of Main Street has been a changeable issue. Every time the WPCA comes up

with a new plan on where to place the sewers, someone objects to it, he said.

Mr Alagna noted that the amount of sewer pipe needed to serve the east side of

Main Street is relatively short compared to the length of the sewer system.

"This is giving us headaches, real headaches," he said of the sewer placement

issue.