Dalton Division Road Sewer Line Questioned
DALTON, Mass. — As the engineering of projects for Dalton Division Road continue, some officials question the investment of a proposed sewer line.
"The board has made a decision that they think it's appropriate to complete the sewer project, but we are talking about a pretty expensive project to tie in a fairly small number of homes," Town Manager Eric Anderson said during the Select Board meeting last week.
"I'm not saying that's good or bad. I'm just saying that that needs to be considered, because we're going to need to be funding that."
Installing a sewer line is probably going to be about a couple million-dollar project, but the town is probably a year away from knowing the final cost, he said.
"I'm just nervous to be honest with you," Select Board member Antonio "Tony" Pagliarulo said.
The town has a lot of capital projects that would favor a greater number of residents, not to take away from the Dalton and Pittsfield residents on the street, he said,
The residents of Dalton Division Road have been promised that if the street was ever rebuilt that a sewer line would also be constructed, Select Board member John Boyle said.
"This is why the Select Board, after a great deal of lobbying by the residents in that area, voted to pay for the engineering with [some of the] American Rescue Plan Act funds and to seek funding through grants and town participation in the construction of the sewer," he said.
Although the town has made those promises, Pagliarulo said he is still hesitant to endorse it given the other capital projects the town is facing.
"But let's see how it unfolds," he said.
Select Board member Dan Esko said voters will have an opportunity to vote on whether to fund the sewer project during a town meeting once the cost is known.
"If there is not an appetite for it then they will vote it down," he said.
One mechanism of funding it is to transfer as much free cash into the project as it can into sewer stabilization so that "theoretically, in a couple of years" the town can fund it from the stabilization account, Anderson said.
According to correspondence with Edward "Bud" Hall, Department of Public Works superintendent, the stabilization account needs at least $750,000 to respond to significant pumping station failure, or a failure of one of the large sewer lines, Anderson said.
The state is reimbursing the town for the cost of the road and putting in a multi-use pathway, but the sewer project would be at the expense of the town, he said.
"There may be grants available," Select Board Vice Chair John Boyle said.
The Dalton Division Road project involves "significant" improvements to the 1.6-mile stretch. When the project was in 25 percent design last year, Dalton planners were mulling options for sidewalks, bike lanes, and other road measures.
In November, Pittsfield entered into an intermunicipal agreement with Dalton to reconstruct Dalton Division Road. The agreement is for five years with the option to extend to eight years, or until the project is completed.
Each municipality will be responsible for acquiring any necessary land interests and permits on its own soil. Dalton will cover appraisal costs and compensation for takings, and has agreed to indemnify Pittsfield against challenges to the takings.
According to the state Department of Transportation's project page, this $13 million to $14 million project is planned to be funded through the 2028 Transportation Improvement Program for the Berkshire Metropolitan Planning Organization. Construction is set to begin in 2028, but the town has been told it could "easily" slip to the 2030 construction season.
The engineering for a proposed sewer line on Dalton Division Road is slightly ahead of its reconstruction, so the engineers at Fuss and O'Neill questioned whether the town wants to consider splitting the projects and constructing the sewer line a year ahead.
The advantage of this approach is that the town can construct the sewer line, ensure it is fully functional and compacted, and then proceed with the roadwork, Anderson said.
However, this is more expensive and would require the town to dig up the road two years in a row instead of completing the work all at once, he said.
The decision to explore adding a sewer line to the Dalton Division Road project was discussed in 2022, as installing it after the road’s completion would be both difficult and wasteful.
During that meeting, it was said that there are 14 houses that would be impacted by the additional sewer line. Of the 14 houses along this line, 10 indicated an interest in connecting.
To connect, residents would have to pay $500. To actually connect to the line, property owners would have to pay an additional $75 per foot.
Tags: sewer,
