DEERFIELD — Sewer bylaw changes top Monday’s Special Town Meeting warrant, alongside borrowing for Tilton Library, as the Selectboard/Sewer Commissioners look to institute more modern sewer regulations.
Some of the town’s bylaws operate under the Acts of 1935, which authorized Deerfield to construct and operate a sewer system. There is also a one-paragraph sewer bylaw. The Selectboard is looking to modernize its bylaws for future projects by amending the act, implementing a more thorough set of bylaws and repealing a redundant regulation.
“It’s really bringing it up to speed … making sure we have a thick set of regulations,” Selectboard Chair Trevor McDaniel said about the proposed changes and additions.
The first of the sewer articles on Monday’s Special Town Meeting warrant will be Article 15, which seeks to amend the Acts of 1935. The original act says taxpayers “shall pay not less than one-fourth nor more than two-thirds of the whole cost” of any sewer project. While the act has allowed up to 66% of a project to be paid for by taxpayers, the town has historically funded projects in a 25-75% split, with sewer users paying for three-quarters of a project.
The proposed change strikes that funding method and replaces it with another percentage, which would remove the upper boundary of 66% and — depending on a Friday Selectboard vote — cap it at or under 25%. McDaniel said the town has set a precedent by requiring 25% of funding come from taxpayers, but there is some responsibility of all town residents to pay for sewer projects.
“We gain benefit as a whole by having a sewer infrastructure system. … We need to make sure we are a viable town for businesses that are coming,” he said. “I think what’s in there now is really close to fair. … Most of it should be the sewer users because that’s who typically uses it.”
Selectboard member Tim Hilchey noted that any payment percentages will be decided by residents because the first line of the act states, “the town shall, by vote, determine what proportion of the cost of said system.”
Warrant Article 16 lays out a thorough set of sewer bylaws, far exceeding the current one-paragraph bylaw in place right now, which Hilchey said is “not sufficient to the time period we’re living in.”
The key addition in the amended bylaws is language allowing the town to apply betterments, which will enable the town to “assess charges for improvements to the system in the affected service areas.” The bylaws currently forbid betterments and the town does not have a method that can run the system, which will be fixed if the bylaw is adopted, according to the Special Town Meeting information session packet.
Any changes to project payment percentages or betterments will not affect any current projects, such as the South Deerfield Wastewater Treatment Plant. They will, however, affect future projects, like if the town undertakes something like an extensive Old Deerfield Wastewater Treatment Plant project, which a few residents have raised concerns about.
Speaking during a Special Town Meeting informational session on Wednesday, resident Bruce St. Peters said the historical 25-75% split isn’t burdensome because the sewer is a “huge benefit” to non-sewer users, but applying betterments to the nonprofits in Old Deerfield, which are tax-exempt, for an Old Deerfield Wastewater Treatment Plant project might dissuade them from making their annual donations to the town.
“They didn’t have to contribute a penny,” St. Peters said of nonprofit donations. “I don’t want to see this town shooting itself in the foot.”
All three Selectboard members said the nonprofits have been working “cooperatively” with the town on these sewer discussions for years because sewer operations are essential for their functions.
“It’s disruptive to their operations if it’s down. If you can’t flush the toilets, you can’t have the kids at school,” commented Selectboard member Carolyn Shores Ness. “We’re trying to approach this in a way that is methodical, in a way that is a win-win for all of us and it’s done.”
The full bylaw changes and amendments can be viewed in the information packet, which can be found at Town Hall or online at bit.ly/3VHtynd.
Other articles on Monday’s Special Town Meeting warrant include:
■Appropriating $60,000 for engineering services for the Leary Lot project, which will save staff time and expedite the work’s earlier stages.
■Appropriating $30,000 for the town’s 350th anniversary celebrations, which will take place throughout 2023.
■Appropriating $40,000 to fund the purchase of a vehicle for sewer and wastewater treatment department staff, who are currently using personal vehicles to conduct department work.
■Appropriating additional money toward the South Deerfield Congregational Church, which may become a long-term home for the South County Senior Center.
■Allowing the Selectboard to enter into a Tax Incentive Financing (TIF) agreement with NUPRO for the development of a new facility on Merrigan Way.
Special Town Meeting will be held Monday, Oct. 24, in the Frontier Regional School auditorium, 113 North Main St., starting at 6 p.m.
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.