1.    Mr. Weber called the meeting to order at 1:00pm.   

2.    Stormwater Utility

a.    Chairman Art Weber, began the discussion noting that the creation of a stormwater utility had failed about 10 years ago because the Town Council feared the public would not approve of it.  Mr. Weber noted that it would be better if we had outside public support for this go around, if it had any chance to succeed.

b.    Chairman Weber first asked what does a stormwater utility do and why do we need it?  Mr. Croce also noted that every application must submit a stormwater plan and so the issue is being addressed.

c.     Mr. Wolanski, explained that the idea behind the utility is to pass along the expanded cost of stormwater management, which is currently disproportionately borne by all property owners, to those who produce larger volumes of stormwater because their properties contain more impervious surfaces, usually retail businesses.

d.    In response to a question proposed by Mr. Weber, Mr. Wolanski explained that a private company would do the assessment of impervious surfaces on each lot.  Mr. Wolanski went on to explain that this utility would cover bother commercial and residential lots although commercial lots were likely to have much more impervious surface.  Other ways to calculate how much each owner would be billed, could be a percentage based on the value of their land, but this would still not be as fair or accurate as accounting for area of impervious surfaces.

e.    Mr. Weber confirmed that currently there is no separate account dedicated for stormwater infrastructure.  Mr. Wolanski explained that the cost of stormwater management is increasing due to unfunded mandates and new regulations coming from the state and just overall development and that doing nothing would increase everyone’s taxes.

f.      Mr. Croce noted that most of the work had already been done when this was last presented to the Town Council, however Mr. Wolanski countered that this work, spearheaded by the town administrator’s office, would now be considered old and irrelevant so much of it would have to be redone. 

g.    Mr. Wolanski further explained, the Planning Department would lead the effort to get the utility up and running and handle the administration of it.  This would likely require the addition of another staff member.

h.    It was agreed by the subcommittee members that more research regarding estimates at how much money this could raise and what the average bill would be for both commercial and residential owners.  The current fees the town charges to recuperate some of the cost of stormwater infrastructure would also be researched.  When the research is completed and Crossman Engineering who had done a bulk of the work on this in the past were again brought in, the subcommittee would meet to come up with a plan and evaluate the feasibility of getting this passed by the new Town Council after the election season.

i.      Mr. Wolanski reiterated that a budget increase to cover stormwater infrastructure improvements would require everyone’s taxes to increase, while a utility may generate more funding rather than just raising taxes.

3.    Wastewater Management District

a.    Mr. Weber began the discussion noting that the state’s Department of Environmental Management and the state’s Coastal Resources Management were concerned with the proximity of houses on the east side of town, to the bay.  The local septic systems should be inspected to ensure they are not leaking contaminants into the water table and then onto the bay.  The lack of inspections threatened the temporary closure of Third Beach, the town’s main tourist attraction.

b.    Mr. Weber explained that the state had forced Portsmouth to do similar work and that this was administered by the Assistant Planner in the Planning office.

c.     Mr. Croce noted that if another person to administer the inspections was hired in Middletown it would come at a cost of $100k annually to the town and that Portsmouth also provided lower interest funding to residents that needed to upgrade their systems.  Mr. Weber noted that maybe an administrative fee could be charged that would pay for the addition employee or two if needed.

d.    Mr. Croce noted that the town engineer’s relative is head of the Portsmouth inspections system and that maybe we can gain some guidance from what they have already done.  Mr. Weber noted that DEM maybe another source of guidance.  However, Mr. Croce worried that in light of what happened in Portsmouth bringing in DEM may actually antagonize the Town Council against the proposal.

e.    Mr. Vaillancourt hoped that the Town Council would be encouraged to address the situation and  if they were provided evidence of septic system failures threatening local water quality they would be forced to action.  Mr. Wolanski noted that in the past there have been reports of high nitrogen rates in residential wells and this could be a serious water quality issue.

f.      Mr. Weber noted that Portsmouth has issued a bond to repair and expand its sewer system.  Mr. Croce noted that it was still likely cheaper to create an inspection system rather than expand the the sewer system to the east side of town id Middletown

g.    Mr. Wolanski closed the meeting stating he hoped to introduce these proposals to the future Town Council in December or later.

Meeting adjourned at approximately 2:30pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Arthur Weber, Secretary