No fees, new sewage pipes: Middleboro, developer agree on plan to save town millions
Select Board members Thomas White and Teresa Farley during the Sept. 29 meeting. Photos by Grace Roche
Select Board members Mark Germain and Thomas White at the Monday night meeting. 
Select Board members Brian Giovanoni and Mark Germain at the board meeting.
Select Board members Thomas White and Teresa Farley during the Sept. 29 meeting. Photos by Grace Roche
Select Board members Mark Germain and Thomas White at the Monday night meeting.
Select Board members Brian Giovanoni and Mark Germain at the board meeting.
MIDDLEBORO — In exchange for Middleboro waiving sewer fees for developer West Grove Holdings LLC, the company will replace an approximately 5 mile stretch of aging and outdated pipes, and donate them to the town.
This work would have cost the town approximately $5 million to complete, while revenue from the sewer fees would have been about $1.5 million. The cost of this work would far exceed the lost fee revenue, meaning this deal will save Middleboro millions in much-needed sewage improvements. The Select Board voted to approve the agreement Sept. 29.
“Those fees are what we call system development fees, which goes into a fund which usually funds this type of work,” said Select Board member Brian Giovanoni. “So instead of getting a million and a half [dollars] and us having to come up with $5 million, this would be us getting $5 million and giving up a million and a half [dollars].”
The current sewage pipes have been at capacity for a number of years, and Town Manager James McGrail said they often get backed up during heavy rain. The updated pipes will have increased capacity, reducing the risk of overflow.
McGrail said the town has tried to improve the area from Mayflower Avenue to Wareham Street — where the developer will replace sewage pipes — and the nearby section of Route 28 — where it will replace the water main — for years, and the updates are long overdue.
At last year’s Town Meeting, voters approved a $4 million appropriation to update the sewage pipes. This agreement would bring these changes at no cost to the town and is, McGrail said, a “really good deal” for taxpayers.
The current agreement also allows for the town to have a resident engineer on-site throughout the construction process, which McGrail said he is “100% supportive” of. He said the town intends to send a member of the staff to ensure the installation is done correctly.
He added the current project is fully permitted through the Planning Board, and the Select Board had the power to make a final approval. However, if this agreement is not approved at Town Meeting, final approval for a separate sewage project would come from Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection — taking the decision out of Middleboro’s hands.
“The best course of action is for the developer and the town to agree, so that’s what we’re proposing,” McGrail said.
