CONWAY — A request to borrow $130,000 to design a wastewater treatment facility on the town’s Shelburne Falls Road property was reduced to $16,000 at Monday’s annual town meeting before passing via a two-thirds vote, 119-59.
The facility would service about 30 downtown houses. Voters expressed a desire to slow down the process and find a more definitive cost for the project.
“It would allow hydrological studies to be done, to see if it’s an appropriate site. I don’t think we should design a system until we know how many people would sign on to this system,” said resident Thomas Lesser, who introduced the amendment lowering the amount of money.
According to an information sheet, the total project’s cost is an estimated $1.2 million, borrowed over 30 years. Taxes would be raised townwide about $11 per $1,000 in assessed property value over that time to pay it off. Those who decided to connect to the system would be charged a user fee of $818 per year, and a yearly betterment fee of $280.
“When I built my house approximately 30 years ago I accepted the responsibility of installing my own leach field,” said resident Charles Allis, speaking to a crowd of nearly 200 people inside the Grammar School gym. “I can’t stomach the thought of paying for a leach field downtown when mine is going to fail.”
The amended article’s enactment is contingent on successful passage of a Proposition 2½ debt exclusion ballot question to be taken up at Thursday’s election. If that vote passes, taxes will increase slightly to pay back the approved $16,000.
At least in part, the new septic system is needed because the individual systems in the downtown area, over the town’s groundwater supply, are getting older. “The proposed system … would improve the quality of the groundwater discharged back into the soil,” the information sheet says, noting “first and foremost would be the protection of our groundwater aquifers and drinking water.”
Supporters of borrowing the originally proposed $130,000 — a number based on an estimate by Tighe and Bond — also warned that if something isn’t done soon, home values in that area could drop, eroding the entire center district.
“There aren’t a lot of options in the center of town. I would hate to see the center of town destroyed. At some point, houses aren’t going to be sold for the same prices. We’re going to have a blighted community, and none of us want that,” argued Joe Strzegowski, chairman of the Wastewater Study Committee.
Elsewhere on the agenda, a $20,000 request from the Highway Department to purchase a hydraulic boom lift failed a majority vote 90-53.
Voters approved a $5.5 million operating budget for the upcoming year, up $270,785 from the current year.
Of that, Conway’s $1,256,921 assessment for Frontier Regional School’s budget and the Grammar School’s $1,766,938 projected operating budget were both approved.
Another $50,000 was set aside for anticipated capital repairs at the Grammar School. The fund currently has more than $240,000 in it. Of that, $35,000 was approved to be spent on various infrastructure needs at the school, including security cameras and a new intercom system.
Residents agreed to put aside $100,000 for a new highway garage. A nonbinding referendum asking the Selectboard to look into what it would take to build a garage was also passed.
Other items that passed popular vote Monday include a request for $3,000 to hard pack the town office parking lot; $9,200 in Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds to control invasive species on the South River Meadow property; and $60,000 in CPA funds to repair the building that was formerly the Conway Grammar School.
There were also a few notable bylaw changes, including one that makes senior housing developments easier to build, and another addressing the right to farm.