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Alagna Resigns As WPCA Chairman with cut

GENNEWS'

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

Peter Alagna, the town official who has shepherded work to resolve local

groundwater pollution problems since 1979, has resigned from the Water

Pollution Control Authority (WPCA).

Mr Alagna, the WPCA chairman, left the agency effective September 12.

WPCA members have elected member Richard Zang to be the appointive agency's

new chairman. Timothy Lachapelle is the new vice chairman.

The WPCA has overseen the design and construction of the town's $34.3-million

sewer system planned to serve Newtown Borough, Sandy Hook Center, and Taunton

Pond North. The WPCA will administer the sewer system's operation.

During the past several years, the WPCA has faced one controversy after

another over the physical and financial aspects of building a sewer system

with more than 20 miles of sewer lines to serve about 825 addresses. The

sewage treatment plant was turned on September 2. All properties are expected

to be connected to sewer system in about a year.

Current controversies involve sewer assessments. Through such assessments, the

costs of building the system are divided up among property owners who have

access to sewers. What makes for an "equitable" division of construction costs

among the various classes of sewer users is at the heart of those

controversies.

Besides conflict over how to divide up construction costs, the WPCA is

expected to face yet more controversy when it sets sewer user fees.

"Regrettably, after 18 years of volunteer public service ... I find it

necessary to resign. The relocation of my business has placed a greater demand

on my time and has been making it increasingly difficult for me to devote the

necessary time and effort which the [WPCA] job demands," Mr Alagna said.

Mr Alagna is the proprietor of Milano's Gourmet Deli and Catering on Mill

Plain Road in Danbury. The business formerly was located at the North Street

Shopping Center there.

"I am gratified, after all these years, to see the sewer project finally

completed. I am confident that the policies and procedures which the WPCA has

adopted will provide the town of Newtown with desirable social and

environmental goals," he said.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed the immeasurable amount of challenges which I have

encountered during these as years of public service while the professionalism

and dedication of each member of the WPCA has contributed to my enjoyment of

the various responsibilities," he added.

"I sincerely hope that the WPCA will be viewed by the public as being

responsible, accommodating, and fair to public needs," said Mr Alagna.

Town Public Works Director Fred Hurley said of Mr Alagna, "Talk about a man

who has paid his dues. I don't know if anyone totally appreciates the job he's

done. We'll miss him."

John Whitten of Fuss and O'Neill, Inc, the town's consulting engineer for the

sewer project, said, "I enjoyed working with [Mr Alagna]. Every time I had a

question, he was right there to help out." Mr Alagna took many telephone calls

at home from residents with questions about the project, Mr Whitten said.

Mr Whitten, who is a senior field representative for the engineering company,

is the chief inspector on the sewer project.

In 1979, former first selectman Jack Rosenthal tapped Mr Alagna, a Democrat,

to be a member of the Newtown Facilities Plan Advisory Committee, a group

which was formed at state urgings to study rectifying the town's widespread

groundwater pollution problems caused by failing septic systems.

Mr Alagna, 52, of Head O' Meadow Road, has a background in environmental

engineering, having worked in air pollution management for the City of

Bridgeport, water quality management at the Housatonic Valley Council of

Elected Officials, and in water pollution control on the state level.

Tiring of his bureaucratic role as a pollution regulator, Mr Alagna left

pollution engineering and went into the delicatessen business in the early

1980s.

Of his years on the WPCA, Mr Alanga said, "I was able to deal with the various

numerous problems we encountered." Being able to address those problems

provided him with fresh perspectives on the sewer project, he said.

Though the WPCA repeatedly experienced problems, it has successfully overseen

the construction of the sewer system, he noted.

The WPCA membership has a sense of humor and doesn't take itself too

seriously, he said. "It's been fun. We made it fun," he said.

The agency didn't let itself become bogged down in the maze of regulations

involved in building a sewer system, Mr Alagna said.

"It gave me gratification to see the project completed," Mr Alagna said.

Although the battle over where to place sewers to serve the east side of Main

Street was intense, "I knew we would come up with a solution," Mr Alagna said.

And although public tempers sometimes flared, the public appreciated the

length and complexity of the WPCA's task, he said, adding that dealing with

the state bureaucracy to get the sewer system built wasn't simple either.

"It's good for someone else to take on the responsibilities" of heading the

WPCA, he said.

With sewer system planning and construction completed, the WPCA's task will

now oversee the system's operation.

"I feel the WPCA will remain in good shape," Mr Alagna said.