Nantucket outlines $44.8 million Somerset sewer plan; homeowners may face up to 25% betterments

Town of Nantucket officials and their consultants laid out plans and costs on Monday for the Somerset needs-area sewer extension, telling residents the project would be financed in part by a $44.8 million construction appropriation in Article 15 at the May annual town meeting and could require property-level cost-recovery measures if adopted.

Consultant Dan Sheehan of Westin Samson said the sewer extension is intended mainly "to address nitrogen issues in the pond," citing 2004 and 2014 planning reports that identified septic-system nutrient loading and algal blooms in local ponds as the primary environmental drivers for the project. Sheehan described a mix of gravity sewer, low-pressure lines (requiring grinder or ejector pumps at some homes), a new pump station on Bartlett Road and related water-main, drainage and multiuse-path work.

The presentation shifted to project finance after the overview. Ryan Henley, also with the consulting team, said the town already appropriated $6,400,000 for design. The construction appropriation included in Article 15 is $44,800,000; if Article 15 passes at the May 4 town meeting, that amount and the earlier design…