Old Lyme Board of Selectmen
Special Meeting: Thursday, May 13, 2010
The Board of Selectmen held a special meeting at 8:00 AM on Thursday, May 13, 2010 in the First Selectman’s Office at the Old Lyme Memorial Town Hall. First Selectman Timothy Griswold, Selectman Skip Sibley (by telephone) and Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder were present.
1. ~WPCA Ordinance Amendment
Mr. Thomas Risom, Chairman of the Water Pollution Control Authority, went through a power point he has prepared for the Annual Town Budget Meeting, to be held on Monday May 17th. He stated the WPCA is committed to sewer avoidance in the Town of Old Lyme and the DEP has been pleased with the progress the Town has made since 1997. He said that about 95% of homeowners are complying with the ordinance but the WPCA believes changes to the ordinance are required to increase the percentage of compliance, eliminate conflicting information, more accurately describe certain defined terms and require changes in existing septic systems to further protect the ground water. He reviewed the changes to various sections of the ordinance.
The ordinance requires the replacement of certain septic system components by 31 December 2012. He highlighted some major ones:
- Cesspools
- septic tanks with a capacity of less than 900 gallons or 2/3 of the required size
- Steel septic tanks
- Leaching fields less than 50% of the required size
He noted that Old Lyme is heavily dependent on properly functioning septic systems to keep our water as pure as possible. The WPCA is opposed to structural sewers because of the cost and the impact on our water reserves. Massachusetts and Rhode Island banned cesspools and steel septic tanks over 15 years ago and, while the DEP has not banned them, Mr. Risom believes it will soon.
The amendment will give the Director of Health and the Sanitarian greater power to enforce the provisions of the ordinance in hopes of achieving full compliance. He said that many repairs/replacements could be done for about $2,000. New technologies enable leaching fields to be about 25% of the sixe they used to be. There would certainly be expense for property owners with noncompliant systems but the future quality of our water depends on these upgrades.
While the Selectmen agree that we must protect our groundwater and support the proposed changes, they are concerned that the amendment has not had adequate public exposure and comment. The consensus is that it would be premature to vote on the amendment now. Instead, the WPCA should conduct a couple of public hearings on the amendment, one of which could be specifically for the beach communities. There was also concern that the December 2012 deadline might be too close at hand. Mr. Risom said that members of the WPCA recommended timeframes from immediate to five years and the Selectmen suggested a five year timeframe. The Selectmen discusses the possibility of using part of the Town’s surplus to create a fund that could finance low interest rate loans to homeowners, within certain
income parameters, to help them purchase the required improvements. Such loans would be repaid over five to seven years and be secured by a lien on the house.
A motion was made by Selectman Sibley and seconded by Selectwoman Reemsnyder to remove item #3 from the call of the Annual Budget Meeting agenda and instead have Thomas Risom, Chairman of the WPCA, explain the proposed amendments to those present. SO VOTED.
2. Adjournment – Selectwoman Reemsnyder moved and seconded by Selectman Sibley to adjourn the meeting at 8:57 AM. SO VOTED.
Respectfully submitted, ~
Timothy C. Griswold
Recording Secretary
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