COLRAIN — A letter from the town’s legal counsel issues the opinion that the town does not own the portion of the sewer system infrastructure that collects the waste from the home and transports it away.
The legal opinion from KP Law comes after Franklin Regional Council of Governments Health District Program Manager Randy Crochier requested in May that “the Colrain Selectboard vote to affirm that North River LLC (Barnhardt) may change the end point of the flow from the collection system from the North River LLC to that of a fully compliant septic system to be installed by North River LLC.” At the time, Selectboard Chair Katie Korby said she was wary of taking any action that would make it seem like the town owned the collection system, and asked for a letter from KP Law asking the Colrain Sewer District to formally accept ownership of the collection system.
The letter from KP Law, addressed to Pat Geary, chair of the Colrain Sewer District, states that “the town does not now and never has owned or controlled the collection system, and is under no legal obligation to fund repairs or incur any costs in connection therewith.”
The Selectboard voted unanimously to provide the Sewer District with the letter from town counsel regarding ownership of the collection system, and also voted unanimously to deny Crochier’s request as that would imply town ownership of the collection system.
“[The Selectboard] will not authorize the use of any town funds for any operation, maintenance, upgrade, repair or replacement of the collection system, now or in the future,” KP Law writes. “If the district wishes to make any changes to the collection system, it does not require a vote of the Selectboard, and no such vote is forthcoming.”
Back in March, the Colrain Sewer District started moving forward with a plan for a new collection system at the former Barnhardt Manufacturing Co. property at 247 Main Road. The district includes 19 residential buildings and a chapel that were previously serviced by the wastewater treatment system at the Barnhardt plant before it closed more than three years ago, prompting the start of a short-term solution of trucking the waste to Montague.
Engineering firm Wright-Pierce recommended a $3.55 million Bioclere system that would be installed underground and treat the wastewater without the addition of chemicals. At the time, a letter from Geary presented three options for how to fund this new system.
Option A would involve the town applying for grant funding, hiring a contractor, managing the sewer system installation and transferring ownership of the collection system to the Colrain Sewer District once the project is complete.
For Option B, the town would pay a lump sum to the Colrain Sewer District for it to take ownership of the collection system as is.
Option C would involve the town owning the collection system while allowing the Sewer District to connect the system with the proposed new treatment system after rules, regulations, operation and maintenance procedures are established.
At the March meeting, Geary said that the town owns the collection system — the initial portion of the system that collects the waste from the home and transports it away to a septic tank — and that the Sewer District and the town have to make an agreement to transfer ownership of the collection system.
“The mere fact that a sewer line is installed in a municipality does not make it a public sewer,” KP Law writes. “Rather, a public sewer may only be established through layout and acceptance in accordance with the procedures in Chapter 83 of the Massachusetts General Laws. … It appears the collection system has been owned and controlled by the district since at least 2001.”
KP Law’s full letter to the Colrain Sewer District can be viewed at tinyurl.com/4t2j4prj.
There was some concern from Town Administrator Diana Parsons over resolving the issue quickly, as construction needs to break ground by the summer, and there is a risk of grant funding being retracted if it’s not started by November. The project has received a $500,000 Rural Development Grant and a $1 million federal earmark, with the help of Congressman Jim McGovern’s office.
In a statement, however, Geary counters the legal opinion.
“The town of Colrain relieved the industry of ownership of the SCS (sewer collection system) in Griswoldville when they applied for and received grant money to replace the industry-owned SCS as part of the ‘Colrain Business Retention & Growth Project,'” Geary argued. “The Colrain Sewer District never accepted ownership of the SCS because there was no affordable residential sewer treatment plant to connect to, along with several unresolved code and design issues.
“The town of Colrain signed off on the SCS in its present state and has retained ownership to this day,” Geary continues. “The [state Department of Environmental Protection] reaffirmed this ownership of the SCS when they sent a letter dated [Aug.] 14, 2023, requiring the town of Colrain to do an infiltration/inflow analysis of the SCS. Also, several contractors have received permission from the town of Colrain to access the town-owned SCS.”
