Today’s Hour contains two enticing tid bits of news in a Robert Koch article. The first:

“The Water Pollution Control Authority for the city of Norwalk is deferring approval of sanitary sewer connections in the Westport Avenue sanitary sewer service area until infrastructure improvements are constructed with a targeted completion date of no more than two years,” wrote Elisabeth O. Bardon, operations manager for the public works department, in a memorandum to Planning and Zoning officials. “This applies to any new development that will contribute flows in excess of what is currently being discharged to the sewer from the affected parcel.”

Bardon said flow metering found that high amounts of inflow and infiltration were occurring in Westport Avenue area sanitary sewers during heavy rains. That has resulted in sewage overflows in the area of Catalpa and Gwendoline streets.

That confirms what Gwendoline Street resident Margaret Peterson already knew. Speaking to the city’s Planning Commission last month, she said her property has flooded seven times over the last three years. Flooding last Aug. 27 brought storm water and raw sewage onto her property, she said.

Deferring means no connections will be allowed, and it looks like DPW is acknowledging that there is no additional sewage capacity in the area. Wow, that’s really significant isn’t it? No more capacity isn’t something that just happens overnight, so what’s been going on here? And what about other parts of Norwalk? We know that the roads can’t handle increased traffic, so it only makes sense that the sewage system cant handle any more connections.

The other tid bit is this:

In a separate action in February, the Water Pollution Control Authority approved a sewer connection fee to cover “increased system burden” on the city’s sanitary sewer system and wastewater treatment plant. The one-time fee, which took effect March 1, ranges from $3,260 for a single-family home served by a 5/8-inch water meter to $700,900 for a property served by a 12-inch pipe.

The actions come as flood-prone neighborhoods pressure the city to boost spending to replace undersized drainage pipes and repair antiquated sewers. The Westport Avenue area project is part of the public works department’s seven-year, $10-million capital spending plan to rehabilitate 170 miles of sanitary sewers, some of which are more than a century old.

Um, I don’t see any reference to commercial development fees in this? And are there any exemptions? I hope not. Other cities in the state, like Danbury which is close to our size, require a mandatory sewer hookup fee. They use it to fund the maintenance and expansion of there system. It’s long over due that every new attachment to our sewer system pays for connection too. No exceptions.

Source: The Hour, Sewer overhaul may halt developments Moratorium, called to address flooding problems in East Norwalk, will not affect all projects, By ROBERT KOCH, March 21, 2007