Yarmouth affirms nonbinding petition to move Pump Station No. 2 after hours of debate; vote 100-88

Town meeting attendees on Dec. 9 voted 100 to 88 to affirm a nonbinding petition asking the town to move Pump Station No. 2 away from agricultural wetlands and an existing farm stand.

The petition was presented by local residents and property-owner spokesperson Chris Wilson, who said the proposed station would raise grades near the farm stand, obstruct views and pedestrian access, and impose environmental risk on the cranberry bog. "There's a 3 foot elevation rise blocking the farm stand... 21 fractures within the construction zone," Wilson said, summarizing photos and a site analysis.

Jeff Colby, the town's public works director, delivered the town's technical response. Colby described the wastewater project as the largest environmental-improvement effort in Yarmouth's history, required by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to remove nitrogen from coastal embayments. He said Phase 1 contracts and five collection-system contracts have already been awarded and that the pump stations are designed with redundant pumps, elevated critical equipment, SCADA monitoring and pre-construction inspections. "The facility would need to be redesigned," Colby said when asked about moving a station, and he estimated that moving Pump Station No. 2 at this stage would cost "more than a million dollars." He warned that redesigns and delays could imperil state financing or loan-forgiveness terms.

Town counsel told the meeting that town meeting lacks the legal authority to alter an engineered, funded sewer project in the manner the petition requests; accordingly, any action tonight would be a nonbinding resolution expressing voters' preferences rather than ordering a change. Despite that, supporters urged the vote to register community concern and to press town leadership to negotiate alternatives.

Public commenters included conservation commissioners, farmers and citizens who alternately argued that the location threatens the cranberry bog and that pumping stations of this type can be safely engineered. Speakers also raised questions about whether easements had been secured; Colby said negotiations with the landowner were ongoing and that the owner was not a Yarmouth resident.

After the counted raised-card vote affirmed the nonbinding petition, the moderator announced the result and the meeting adjourned. The vote does not itself move the station; proponents said they expect the petition to inform further discussions between the petitioner, public works staff and the contractor.

Next steps: Because contracts for Phase 1 are in place, town leaders said any formal relocation would require redesign, potential change orders and coordination with state regulators and lenders; the town did not commit to a specific follow-up timetable at the meeting.