Conference 7.286::maynard

This beckons so many punch lines I hardly know where to start....  Hmmmm...


If they are willing to pay more than their fair share for their effluent
and we can handle it in an ecologically responsible manner, then why
not?  (We've been taking verbal effluent for years...  -- sorry, I couldn't
resist).


I'm suspicious of any state mandate in these matters, but we don't keep our
trash in town, so we hardly have a very high pedestal to stand on.   Perhaps
we can trade? (Their effluent for our solid waste).


- dave

Is there a forum for this -- or is it just the Selectmen's meetings?

- dave

    The only thing I've seen recently Dave is that Mike Gianotis has had a
    meeting with the Business Manager of, I forget which, AB Regional School
    District or the Town.  There was an article in yesterday's Beacon. 
    
    					Steve

... I really don't care much what the "goods" are.

If the state mandates that hooking into Maynard's system is the most
economical (and presumably ecologically sound) option, then I hope we
can set our fees one penny less than the other alternative.
[I can see the bumper stickers already: "No $, No Flush"]

- dave

    Officially, the Town of Maynard did not initiate, nor have we ever
    discussed any invitation for Acton to join our municipal sewerage
    system.
    
    However, one of the Maynard selectmen did have a conversation
    with an Acton counterpart at an MAPC (Metropolitan Area Planning
    Council) sub committee meeting last month.  In that conversation,
    it was mentioned that Maynard's current discharge permit is due to 
    expire in 1996 and that we were beginning the design of an upgrade
    of our treatment plant to bring us into compliance with new 
    federal discharge regulations.  
    
    NOTE:  Maynard's current permit is the oldest on the Assabet River
    for the current level of treatment, and thus the first one up for
    renewal to the next level of treatment.  Permits for all other towns
    along the Assabet will also come up for renewal in the next few 
    years as the water quality standards become more and more demanding.
    Maynard's requirement is to upgrade the treatment process, and is
    not intended to expand the current capacity.
    
    Now, it's up to the Town of Acton.  As of today, the Town of Maynard
    has not received any written request from Acton.  If and when we do,
    the three questions that will come up are:
    
    1.  Technically, can the problem areas in Acton be connected to the
    Maynard system?
    
    2.  Financially, what's the deal?  There are all kinds of possibilities
    on this one, including using the same type of buy-in formula that Acton
    used during the school regionalization discussions.  
    
    3.  Politically, how deep are the wounds left from the school
    regionalization days?  Can these wounds be healed by a great financial
    deal?  I'm not sure.
    
    As for a mandate from the state, I'm not so sure about that either.
    
    This will certainly be interesting......
    
    Frank    
              

    
    
    
      Just a couple of comments:
    
       > 3.  Politically, how deep are the wounds left from the school
        regionalization days? 
    
    I feel that they are quite deep. I did not appreciate some comments
    I heard coming from that town from, really, just a very few
    individuals, but nevertheless not well taken...              
    
    
   > Can these wounds be healed by a great financial
        deal?  I'm not sure.
    
    Can't say for sure. Money does talk, though. A "great deal" could
    be good for both towns, I suppose. My feeling is we got dumped on once
    with words, now we may be "dumped" on again with .........
     
    /Bob
        

    Just to make my opinion known, I would love the opportunity to vote NO
    at a future Town Meeting.  I can't see Acton paying more than their
    share so in that sense, there is really no benefit to Maynard to do
    this deal.  They wouldn't accept our children but we're supposed to
    accept their waste!?  As Bob previously said, talk about getting dumped
    on...
    
    Of course, if such a vote were to come about, I'd hope the appropriate
    people would arrange to have our Town Meeting after Acton votes on this
    proposal, so we can be sure they "really want" their waste to be
    associated with ours.
    
    					Steve
    system.

        .8>    I can't see Acton paying more than their
.8>    share so in that sense, there is really no benefit to Maynard to do
.8>    this deal.  

    I don't think this is necessarily true - it all depends on the outcome
    of negotiations.  What I've heard is that some sections of Acton have
    really very bad septic problems, so there may be a strong interest in
    Acton to make it worth Maynard's while to agree on a plan.  If that's
    true, perhaps a deal favorable to Maynard could be struck.

    If the State could potentially force an agreement in the future, it is
    in Maynard's interest to quickly strike a deal with Acton - we would
    probably get better terms than if the State just tells Acton to connect
    to the plant, effectively giving away our excess capacity.

    This may also be a good time to negotiate because the State Dept. of
    Environmental Protection is considering drastically upgrading the
    requirements for residential septic systems.  They actually proposed
    the new rules.  However, when people found out they would have to pay
    thousands more to build and maintain septic systems, there was a huge
    fuss, and the DEP backed off for now.  (See the Massachusetts
    conference, note 1601.)  However, the new regulations may return.  That
    gives people with septic systems a very strong reason to pay to connect
    to a sewer plant.

    Note that there are so many sewer plants pumping treated sewerage into
    the Assabet that the State is very unlikely to authorize building
    another one, unless they relax their own rules.  So, Acton can't build
    their own sewer plant.

    Another reason to make a deal with Acton is that the State's sewer
    plant upgrades are going to happen, and someone is going to pay
    bigtime.  The citizens of Maynard can pay for it all by ourselves, or
    we can try to share the cost with Acton.

    The local politics of this get very interesting, of course.  As has
    been mentioned, the school regionalization debacle may influence
    events.  Also, when you mention a sewer tie to Acton, many people in
    Maynard remember that the Beacon newspaper building in Acton got
    their sewer tie to Maynard with a deal that was very favorable to the
    Beacon.  I believe the Beacon has changed ownership twice since then,
    but that deal in particular caused a lot of distrust of local
    government which persists today.  My personal opinion is that our Town
    government is much more open and interested in doing right for the
    citizens than the local government of some years in the past, but I'll
    bet that the Beacon sewer tie is being discussed at this moment among
    people in Paul's bakery and the donut shop downtown. 

    So, I think we should talk to Acton.  A competent negotiator should be
    able to strike a deal very favorable to Maynard.  In order to get such
    a deal approved by Town Meeting, perhaps the key item is that, from the
    start, the process should be open, above board, and not involve any
    special favors to individuals, so this deal cannot be compared to the
    to the Beacon sewer tie.

    -Steve

>    Another reason to make a deal with Acton is that the State's sewer
>    plant upgrades are going to happen, and someone is going to pay
>    bigtime.  The citizens of Maynard can pay for it all by ourselves, or
>    we can try to share the cost with Acton.

It is my understanding that whatever upgrades are being considered are
to increase the quality of the final effluent, not to increase capacity.
As our town has very limited expansion left, extra capacity is not a high
priority for the upgrade.  Bringing another town into the picture would
require both quality and capacity upgrades, so I'm less enthused about
the "sharing the cost" argument.

Much to be seen though...


- dave

.10> It is my understanding that whatever upgrades are being considered are
.10> to increase the quality of the final effluent, not to increase capacity.

    That's what I heard, too, about the upgrades the State requires.

.10> As our town has very limited expansion left, extra capacity is not a high
.10> priority for the upgrade.  Bringing another town into the picture would
.10> require both quality and capacity upgrades, so I'm less enthused about
.10> the "sharing the cost" argument.

    I could easily be wrong, but I heard that our sewer plant has unused
    capacity. If this is true, and that capacity is sufficient for Acton's
    needs, a potential deal could allow Acton to use that excess capacity,
    and they could pay for a good portion of the upgrade cost.  It is also
    conceivable that Acton would need more sewer capacity than we have
    available.  In that case, I think they would have to make it worth our
    while to increase capacity. (I agree, there's no sense in an argument
    for "sharing the cost" for increased capacity.) 

    Of course, as Frank said in .6, it's up to Acton to make a proposal. 
    We don't know what they need.

.1> This beckons so many punch lines I hardly know where to start....  Hmmmm...

    Yeah, I know.  I recall a past Town Meeting where an individual stood
    up and asked if there was a proposal to trade our kids for Acton's,
    uhm, effluent. 

    -Steve

    In response to a request from the Town of Acton, the Maynard Board 
    of Selectmen will meet with the Acton Board of Selectmen tonight,
    January 18th, at 7:00 in the Town Hall to discuss the possibility
    of hooking part of South Acton into the Maynard Sewerage System.  
    
    This is the first formal meeting and should be considered as
    exploratory only.  Any decisions or recommendations are a long way
    away.
    
    Frank