Monday, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) will again meet with stakeholders in the Route 15 area to discuss a solution to the wastewater challenges facing this section of our community. Currently, several property owners are under consent orders from the Department of Environmental Protection to upgrade their wastewater systems. One in particular - the Sturbridge Retirement Cooperative Corporation (SRCC)- home to hundreds of Sturbridge seniors, most of whom are on fixed incomes has long sought support from the Board of Selectmen in terms of a traditional sewer solution.
In fact, the meeting minutes of 21 June 2004 (page 3) reflect that a sewer line for Route 15 was approved on a 3-2 vote by the Board of Selectmen. Subsequently, after a year of dialogue and disagreement between SRCC and the BOS over (among other things) sewer privilege fees, the approval was rescinded on 20 June 2005 (page 8) by the Board after withdrawal by the petitioners. Discussions have intermittently manifested between the Route 15 stakeholders and the BOS since with the end result being the same, calls for more studies and little substantive action.
I have long been a proponent of a municipal solution to the challenge of sewer and water on Route 15. From a residential standpoint we are currently faced with a situation where hundreds of our residents within the Retirement Community are under a consent decree due to a dated and inadequate wastewater treatment system. These residents are turning to us for relief and I believe we have an obligation to help provide a municipal solution.
From and economic standpoint, one has to recognize that despite various experiments with zoning in the Route 15 corridor – the latest of which is the Special Use District and the Planned Unit Business Development which has existed for nearly 15 years - little interest has been generated in terms of viable economic development. This is disconcerting as Route 15 is ideally suited and located for the types of preferable high-tech industrial development that many rural communities clamor for.
The current zoning (pages 41-43) along Route 15 provides for an array of desirable development opportunities that are mindful of our need for a vibrant tax base, while protecting our rural charm. Zoning however is simply not enough and the lack of any real interest in that area would seem to bear this out. I believe that the number one impediment to improving our economic base in that area is the lack of municipal infrastructure. Indeed Dr. John Mullin, the preeminent expert in rural reindustrialization and economic development has long held that the “absence of water and sewer systems represent the greatest flaw “in trying to revitalize and reindustrialize rural communities. He goes on to say that “Without such services, it’s clear that a community will wait and wait and wait”.
Clearly, the current economic climate in non-conducive to development and/or expansion by sought after industries, but if we do not act now, we will continue to find ourselves unable to leverage opportunities which may present themselves in the future. This has certainly been the case for the last several decades. The current zoning along Route 15 with no modifications whatsoever, provide a great deal of opportunity for increasing our tax base, while protecting the character of our community.
One could surely argue that we as a community have waited long enough and in consideration of the escalating tax burden Sturbridge residents will soon be shouldering from projects such as a new elementary school, the upgraded Wastewater Treatment Facility, and even the Town Hall/Center School project, we can no longer continue to travel this course of inaction. To do so would be both derelict and detrimental. The solution to the challenges on Route 15 (both residential and commercial/industrial) is municipal infrastructure – be it traditional sewer or an on-site system. Certainly, the studies conducted by Tighe and Bond have indicated that the soils in the Route 15 corridor are ideal for a municipally owned and operated on-site system. The clock is ticking however and alternative approaches that address the challenges along Route 15 are becoming less tenable with each passing day.
To that end, we as a Board have failed to provide the leadership and the necessary sense of urgency in addressing this issue. Certainly, another year has nearly expired with little substantive engagement on this issue by those of us charged with the leadership role. Undoubtedly and needlessly, our attention has been redirected elsewhere and that has come at a high cost to our community. I believe that the Board has an obligation to lead from the front on this issue and move ahead with a realistic solution that addresses the challenges facing this important corridor within our community. We owe it to those residents shouldering the growing tax burden within Sturbridge. Standing idle and continuing to sit on our hands, is simply no longer an option.
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