A $27 million proposal to repair the roads and the sewer system in Marion Village resulted in a heated debate among town officials on Tuesday.

Norman Hills, Chair of the Capital Improvement Planning Committee, was on-hand to present the committee’s annual report to the Board of Selectmen.

A job easier said than done, he said, as all other capital improvement plans are postponed due a lack of information about how to sort out an inflow and infiltration problem in the Village.

The problem is that clean water from residents’ homes has been going into the sewer system.

Engineers from Camp, Dresser and McKee have proposed an eight-year, $27 million plan to fix the 100-year-old sewer pipes and the roads in the center of town.

Shawn Syde, an engineer with CDM, says the town has been paying an additional $90,000 a year to sort out the infiltration problem.

“The specter of the $27 million inflow and infiltration project keeps coming up at every phase and everyone ducks for cover,” Hills said.

The Selectmen have said this is a problem that needs to be fixed now, while Capital Improvement Planning Committee member Ted North says there’s not enough information to proceed.

“This town is headed on a fiscal monetary train wreck,” North said.

“There is no clear answer if this will stop the inflow and infiltration problem. This tells me there is a serious management problem in our town.”

If the proposal is approved by Town Meeting, North said the costs would ultimately double the debt level of the town, as well as increase the water and sewer rates for property taxpayers.

Finance Committee Chair Alan Minard responded that the town’s proposed budget for 2013 was “in great shape” and there is no plan to submit a budget request for this project in the immediate future.

Selectman Roger Blanchette said the project was “a necessary evil” that cannot wait much longer to be addressed by the town.

“Everyone has always known about this problem but no one wanted to fess up,” Blanchette said. “What’s the point of repairing the roads if you’re not going to do the sewer system?”

Blanchette said it was residents emptying their basement sub pumps into the sewer system that caused most of the damage.

“If we weren’t pumping excess water into the sewer system for the past 40 years we wouldn’t have a problem,” he said. “It should have been addressed 40 years ago but people just put their heads in the sand.”

Town Administrator Paul Dawson says there are options to fund the repairs that would not leave the burden with the taxpayers.

The town has $3.2 million allocated from past Town Meetings to use for such a project.
“Doing roadwork was always contemplated and thoroughly discussed at Town Meeting,” Dawson said.

CDM’s $27 million proposal accounts for 35 percent contingency (or reserve) in case added costs develop once construction begins.

The Selectmen approved a request to pay CDM $577,000 for further engineering studies and a design of the Village area.

The approval for the engineering studies does not include a contract with CDM for the repairs.

Dawson said the town will need to conduct these studies before they can present plans to an engineering firm to do the work.

While he argued in favor of the repairs, Blanchette suggested the Selectmen “shop around” for a better price from a competitor of CDM.

“In my industry we fought for pennies so let’s get competition,” he said. “None of us have a clue what CDM will do. We need to pay more attention to this because there are certain things that need to be done.”

Selectmen Chair John Henry said the $27 million proposal is just a “preliminary number.”

“To fix everything we feel we need to put the road issue to bed,” Henry said. “We think we’re on the right path that will lead to a price and a plan. We’re not in a box. We have choices.”