12/09/2019 BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes

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3 Board of Selectmen Minutes December 9, 2019 Presentation and Discussion of Revised Sewer Project Scenarios; Finance Director Dawn Thayer, Treasurer/Tax Collector Craig Mayen: (continued) Discussion followed with regards to the creation of a Water Infrastructure Investment Fund (WIIF). This is a dedicated funding source that may be spent on maintenance, improvements and investments to municipal drinking, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure assets. Town Meeting approves all funding from the WIIF fund. The Town of Sandwich recently adopted the WIIF utilizing a percentage of Community Preservation Act funds and other funds. In the Town of Mashpee the CPA surcharge is 3%. The impact to the taxpayer is $131 per year. The Town has the option to reduce the CPA tax, and add the percentage being reduced to the WIIF. This is not an added tax, the funds to be currently allocated would be redirected to offset wastewater assumptions and thus reduce the average cost to the taxpayer. In considering the magnitude of the wastewater project and the potential scenarios of added new revenue sources, the use of JBCC and adaptive management practices that may impact future phases, it was agreed the Board of Selectmen would focus on the impact and ramifications of Phase I. Therefore the voters would be requested to approve Phase I and in 10-15 years adopt Phase II and subsequently Phase III. For comparison purposes it was agreed the cost of septic replacement; $25,000 with no change in water quality should be compared to the 40 year investment of sewering with good water quality. An additional scenario to be considered is the average length of home ownership; 7-12 years. With fluctuations it was agreed costs should be reviewed incrementally on a year to year basis. The Board reviewed sewer connection data provided by GHD. The summary of homeowner sewer connection costs, (not betterment or taxes) was reviewed based on costs provided by the Towns of Chatham and Falmouth for installations in 2019. In Falmouth a gravity sewer represented an average of$6,000 per homeowner. The low pressure sewer cost on average is $7,600. In Chatham the gravity sewer for a single family home averaged $9,500, and low pressure sewer average is $22,000. The typical inflation cost is 3%per year. In addition to the cost of construction, the cost of operations and maintenance was considered. It was suggested the Town create a debt reserve account or a septic fees account to retain funds. It was agreed the Board should consider obtaining funding authorization for design in May 2020 and present the construction project to the voters in October 2021 to conform to deadlines for SRF funding. It is the recommendation of the Finance Team the taxpayers should not finance the project inside Proposition 2 %2 as it would be detrimental to the Town and School Departments in future years. It is recommended the Town exempt the sewer construction costs from Proposition 2 '/z and fund the project with multiple Debt Exclusion votes. It is also the recommendation of the Finance Team to create a separate sewer district or to combine the sewer with the Mashpee Water District.