A proposed $27 million, eight-year plan for improving the roads in Marion’s village still has a long way to go, according to the Finance and the Capital Improvements Planning committees.

It was a tense scene February 9 as residents, Selectmen and committee members  went back and forth on whether the town could even afford the project.

Back in January, Shawn Syde from Camp, Dresser and McKee Engineering presented the plan for repairing the sewer systems and roads in the village.

The plan would repair the Village in four sections, or phases. Each phase would take two years to upgrade the 100-year old drainage pipes and the surface of the roads.

Syde said that because of the decline of the 100-year pipes running underneath Front Street and the adjacent roads, clean water has been infiltrating the sewer system.

The inflow and infiltration problem, he said, is costing the town an additional $90,000 each year to fix the infiltration at the wastewater plant.

The repairs would cost the town $27 million over eight years, which includes a 35-percent contingency (or reserve) in case unknown costs develop once the project has started.

CDM’s plan to repair the roads in the center of town came under fire during the meeting last week.

Selectmen Chair John Henry said the inflow and infiltration problem with the drainage system is something the town needs to address now.

“Any upgrade needed to be taken to the system should be taken in its totality,” Henry said. “It is what it is. We have to deal with it in a rational, acceptable manner.”

Finance Committee Chair Alan Minard said his concern for the project was simple: how the town gets the money.

“Let’s get real with what we can actually afford,” Minard said. “We’re all taxpayers here.”

Karen Kevelson, also a Finance Committee member, called the project “delusional.”

“We don’t have any money,” Kevelson said. “We don’t have enough money to mow the baseball fields. We have to rely on volunteers to do that for us. I can’t imagine anyone with an iota of common sense going to Town Meeting in May and asking for an engineering study.”

Since the January meeting, CDM has modified the plan by separating the first of the four phases of the project. “Phase 1A” would complete the project in the area of South Street and Ryder Lane.

“Phase 1B” would offer a 50-percent completion for the remaining phases of the project, which would open the project up to the public and town officials for input before continuing on.

“This proposal falls short in explaining how successful the repairs will be,” said resident Lee Hayes.

“There are two questions to be asked: How much has been spent to solve the problem already, and how much will the inflow and infiltration be reduced for $27 million,” Hayes said.

The town has conducted trench repairs on Front Street, but Syde said this did not get to the root of the problem: inflow and infiltration.

Syde said CDM has been “knocking on doors” in the village for a test of the drainage systems. The engineers have been checking for possible leaks of clean water sources into the sewer system from residential and commercial properties.

Their research shows that 40 sources have been leaking into the sewer system, with another 360 potential sources.

Planning Board Chair Jay Ryder said getting the money for the project will be tough.

“We are going to have to figure out how to pay for these phases without raising the sewer and water tax rates to do so,” Ryder said.

Planning Board member Tom Maguaran said the proposal was “baffling.”

“We have a ton of needs and we need to recognize that we can’t afford what we need,” Maguaran said. “I’m bewildered.”

CDM has requested that the town appropriate the start-up funds for the project, $1.8 million, to conduct further engineering reports of the area.  No decision on this has been made.

The Selectmen, the Finance Committee and the Capital Improvements Planning Committee will hold another meeting to discuss the CDM proposal within the next few weeks on a date to be determined.

Any vote on the matter will have to be done at Town Meeting. Selectman Roger Blanchette suggested holding off on any vote until the fall Town Meeting.

The Committee said it would take the suggestion into consideration during their next meeting.