Date: Fri 08-Sep-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

sewer-Main-St-trees

Full Text:

Drive Launched To Protect Main St Trees

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

Unhappy with the Water Pollution Control Authority's (WPCA) August 31 decision

to install sewer lines in front of houses on the east side of Main Street,

some Borough residents have circulated petitions to get the sewers placed

beneath the center of the thoroughfare.

James Gaston of 18 Main Street said September 5 that he and others interested

in protecting the trees which line the east side of the street circulated

petitions September 4 at the town's Labor Day parade. The petitions call for

the sewers to be installed beneath the street to prevent construction damage

to the trees which would occur if sewers are installed in frontyards,

according to Mr Gaston.

Approximately 200 signatures were collected during the petition drive, he

said.

On August 31, WPCA members voted to have a sewer trunk line installed in the

grassy area between the curb and the sidewalk on the east side of the street.

That sewer route is the latest of several sewer routes which the agency has

chosen for that side of the street. The route has changed several times during

the past 18 months as the members of different ad hoc groups have lobbied the

WPCA to install the sewers in areas which those groups' members believe would

be least injurious to their properties. A separate sewer line is planned to

serve properties on the west side of Main Street.

Based on comments he heard at the parade, there's a "groundswell" of public

opinion that the trees along the east side of Main Street shouldn't be put at

risk of injury due to sewer placement, Mr Gaston said. Mr Gaston said he spoke

to more than 100 people at the parade about the matter.

Noting that WPCA members have changed sewer routes several times already, the

WPCA should change its position again and decide to place the sewers beneath

the center of the street, Mr Gaston said.

Additional sewer construction costs stemming from placing the sewers beneath

the center of Main Street wouldn't be significant compared to the overall cost

of the sewering project, according to Mr Gaston.

He termed the sewer placement matter "a very imporatnt issue."

Burgesses

The Borough Board of Burgesses brought the sewer placement issue to the WPCA

in the spring of 1994, telling WPCA members that sewer line placement

shouldn't pose any risks to the stately trees which line the bustling roadway.

Although Borough residents who voted in a WPCA straw poll last year on the

sewer placement issue listed installing sewers beneath the street as their

first choice, the burgesses agreed to having the sewers installed behind

houses on the east side of the street to prevent damage to the trees along the

street.

But the backyard placement decision didn't sit well with some residents who

don't want the sewers behind their houses. In recent weeks, those people

lobbied the WPCA not to install sewers in backyards, resulting in the WPCA's

August 31 decision for frontyard sewer placements.

Mr Gaston, who is a burgess, said the burgesses will discuss the sewer

placement topic when they meet September 12 at 7:30 pm at Town Hall South.

That discussion may result in the burgesses bringing the matter to the WPCA

again, he said.

Mr Gaston, who is an attorney, said some form of borough or town legislation

may be needed to protect the trees along the east side of the street from

damage due to sewer line construction. He didn't elaborate on what form such

legislation might take.