Sewers For Shore Acres Could Cost $21K Or More Per Residence

On Monday, Aug. 5, the Town Council got an extensive report on three aspects of bringing sewers to North Kingstown. This is the second of three articles on the issues discussed. The first article outlined the possible costs of bringing sewers into Wickford and farther north on Post Road; the third article will outline sewer assessment recommendations for the recently completed Post Road sewer line.

A number of Shore Acres residents attended the Town Council meeting Monday night to hear the town's sewer consultant explain the options for sewering their waterfront neighborhood. 

Shore Acres, the spit of land just south of Quonset, has Narragansett Bay on one side and Wickford on the other. It is a collection of 348 mostly single-family homes. The majority of them have septic systems although some have cesspools, which by state law must be eliminated by 2014, so there is some urgency in determining if sewers will go into Shore Acres.

Engineering consultant Jim Geremia presented the Town Council with three possible options for sewering Shore Acres:

• A gravity system – total cost $10.9 million; cost per residence $31,440 ($2,140 a year for 20 years)

He recommended the low-pressure system, which in addition to being the cheapest, is also a very common type of sewer being built in the region, Geremia said. That's important, he explained, because parts would be plentiful and expertise in that particular type of system would be more widespread.

Because this was not a public hearing, members of the audience were not given a chance to speak. There will be ample time for that, Council President Liz Dolan promised the crowd. She and other council members appeared reluctant to make a decision on what type of sewer for Shore Acres – or even a sewer line there at all – without getting residents’ opinions. So Monday night, the council asked Town Manager Mike Embury to mail something to the residents asking them to say what they thought about the different options.

“Shore Acres would bear the cost of the whole thing, the connection to Post Road,” said Dolan Wednesday. 

For Shore Acres resident Will King, who attended the meeting Monday, new surveys do not need to be done. On his own initiative, he had a survey done several years ago that showed nearly all the residents were in favor of sewers. Dolan, however, said the town needed to gather that information itself.

Steve Earle, another Shore Acres resident, went through this same thing in East Greenwich just seven years ago, when a sewer line was built in their neighborhood.

“Of course, it’s a financial burden that no one wants. But our experience in East Greenwich has been very positive,” said Earle. (He and his wife still own the EG property.) “It is a big expense every year to pay for not only the assessment but to pay for the sewer usage,” he said. For that reason, Earle said, he wished the town would give those residents who only recently upgraded their septic systems more time before they would be forced to tie into the sewer. And he expressed concern for those on fixed incomes.

“We have a duplex, so we’re looking at double the investment,” said Earle “But we do believe in the long term it’s a good investment. It’s difficult to make that payment every year, but we feel it’s the responsible thing to do and, long term, we feel it’s the best solution.”

Shore Acres resident Keith Boyd was blunter.

“Why are the town involved only in the monetary side of this when they should be involved in the environmental side also?” he said. “The sea levels are rising. All the septic systems and all the cesspools that are that close to the water – and let’s face it, most of Shore Acres is within 300 feet of the water – are causing problems and will cause further problems in the future.”  

Boyd continued, “They need to make a decision and get the money together so we can have a proper sewer systems in this state. We’re trying to go to Mars and we can’t even get rid of our own excrement properly.”