The politics of sewers

There were a couple of sewer-related items on the selectmen's agenda last Monday (July 7) which have since caused a few constituents to raise concerns about the costs of sewering Falmouth.

We've not yet nailed down a cost for sewering Falmouth, but I've some concerns myself about the accuracy of the currently quoted $200 million figure. Some time ago, $500 million - half-a-billion dollars - was mentioned, but it was a figure that was quickly swept under the rug. As one person told me, it was a "back of the napkin" calculation which shouldn't be used. That may be so, but anyone dismissing the $500 million figure does so at the risk of defying common sense.

Earlier this year, Mashpee got some estimates for sewering to address their nitrogen issues in the Waquoit and Popponesset bays. The Falmouth Enterprise reported figures of $460 to $600+ million.

Mashpee's population is less than half that of Falmouth's. Moreover, they have only two embayments - Popponesset and Waquoit - and the latter is shared with Falmouth, so you could argue that they've only 1-1/2 embayments. In contrast, Falmouth has half of Waquoit Bay as well as Eel Pond, Bournes Pond, Green Pond, Great Pond, Little Pond and Oyster Pond. If the recent improvements to the existing sewer treatment plant don't go far enough, there's also West Falmouth harbor.

We also need to consider the current inflation of energy costs, and by extension, anything that requires energy to be produced or transported. It's hard to believe that the cost of anything is going to go down anytime soon.

Falmouth has some very sharp people working on the nitrogen issue, so it's possible that Mashpee's figures could be off. Perhaps they are now where we were a few years ago. However, it's also possible that we're being a tad bit optimistic.


The appointment of Falmouth's representative to the Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative also generated some controversy. In a letter in the Falmouth Enterprise, Brad Stumcke raised concerns about the selectmen's decision to appoint Jerry Potamis to be our representative.

I've spoken with Jerry on a few occasions. He's a good and dedicated town employee, and if he says he can do the job, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. However, Mr. Stumcke felt that with the task ahead, Jerry may find himself stretched a little thin.

And anyone who watched the selectmen's meeting this Monday (July 14) saw Michael Freeman ask a pointed question about our policy with regard to application deadlines. Unbeknownst to me, Mr. Potamis' application arrived after the deadline, but it was accepted. I've since heard from folks that this is atypical; in the past, applications received after the deadline have been flatly refused.


Finally, there was Representative Matt Patrick's proposed study of urine separating toilets, which was the topic of a Falmouth Enterprise article. It was also the topic of a Falmouth Enterprise editorial, which took Selectmen Kevin Murphy and Carey Murphy to task for not supporting Representative Patrick's request for a letter to Speaker DiMasi.

If the Enterprise wanted to make a point, I think they could've taken a different tack with it's editorial. Rather than excoriating my fellow selectmen for voting against the request, the paper should have praised the other selectmen (yes, that includes me) for supporting it. After all, you attract more flies with honey than vinegar.


And if that wasn't enough talk about sewers, the Cape Cod Times had an article about the testing of experimental septic treatment systems at the MMR.