Sewage leak prompts free water

A sewage leak that occurred last November on Donaldbin Close in Edgartown has the water department giving some homes free access to town water.
Several distraught residents of the small Edgartown neighborhood voiced their concerns at a joint meeting Monday between selectmen, the water department, and the wastewater department.
The pipe that broke was installed in 2008, raising fears among abutting homeowners that the leak could have been going on for a long time.
David Thompson, facilities manager at the town’s wastewater department, told selectmen while the leak was small and sewage tends to come to the surface quickly, the amount of fill that was removed from the site was cause for concern.
The water department will waive the usage charge for the first 49,999 gallons of water used.
The project to hook up homeowners within 100 feet of the leak to town water will cost the water department upwards of $30,000.
The town is not required to hook up homeowners to town water, because testing on wells has come back negative, but Hagerty said he understands homeowners being concerned about their water.
In other business, selectmen asked Hagerty to advertise positions for a Community Preservation Act (CPA) evaluation committee.
Hagerty said certain voters on the floor at town meeting had concerns about the value of the CPA and wanted more oversight with the use of funds.
“Those funds have built a lot of tremendous things in the town, but we do owe it to [voters] to have a study group for various stakeholders.

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