At a special meeting of the Town of New Canaan Water Pollution Control Authority, Public Works staff presented a proposal to establish a one-time sanitary sewer impact fee applied to new permits that add projected flows to the town’s sanitary system.

Maria Weingarten, Public Works staff, summarized AECOM’s cost estimate and recommended approach. She said AECOM calculated a present-worth treatment and transportation cost of about $50 per gallon per day of added flow, using an assumed 20‑year project life and a discount rate of 2.75% annually, and recommended the WPCA consider a one-time impact fee set at the projected treatment cost. “We recommend that a sanitary sewer impact fee be created that applies to non municipal projects that result in added projected flows to the town sanitary sewer system,” Weingarten said.

Staff proposed a range for the impact fee between $10 and $50 per gallon of added sewer flow to start the dialogue with the WPCA. Weingarten offered practical examples: under Connecticut public health code estimates, an added bedroom typically projects 75 gallons per day of additional flow; at $50 per gallon that would yield a $3,750 one-time fee for one added bedroom, at $20 per gallon $1,500, and at $10 per gallon $750.

The staff also gave a commercial-scale example. The Burdas Avenue mixed‑use proposal (presented to the WPCA previously) produced an estimated net increase of about 6,350 gallons per day; at $50 per gallon that would translate to a one-time fee near $317,500, and at $10 per gallon about $63,500.

Weingarten said the town intends the impact fee to apply only to projects located inside the sewer district; equivalent development outside the district on septic systems would not be subject to the sanitary sewer impact fee (but would remain subject to Connecticut health code requirements for septic systems).

Board members asked process and timing questions. Staff described the practical workflow: applicants would submit an engineer’s estimate of existing and proposed flows prepared by a Connecticut‑licensed professional engineer using the Connecticut public health code methodology; the WPCA would hold a public hearing on the proposed impact fee and later take a vote to adopt any specific fee. Staff said a hearing and vote would likely be scheduled several months out, with November–December cited as a possible timeframe.

Commissioners discussed policy tradeoffs: whether to collect funds in advance to build a maintenance/replacement fund, or to bond and pay in arrears when capital projects are needed. Staff noted that lower fee settings (for example $10/gal) would likely leave a funding gap that would need to be filled through bonding, taxes or other assessments. Weingarten said current connection and disconnection fees would remain unchanged if an impact fee is adopted.

No formal action was taken; the WPCA asked staff to return with additional data (historic bedroom-count changes and more comparative examples) before a public hearing and vote.