Select board presses sewer trustees for clearer rates, tours and plan details ahead of USDA upgrade

Select Board members on June 2 pressed the South Berwick sewer district trustees and Administrator Jay Wheel for clearer public information about how sewer rates are set and how planned capital work might affect customers.

"The last survey we had ... shows us that we need to raise our rates because we're ... below everybody," Jay Wheel told the board, summarizing a recent comparative review of neighboring communities' charges. Wheel described the district's billing framework as a flat quarterly charge tied to an Equivalent Dwelling Unit (EDU) and said an EDU is estimated at about 152 gallons per day for Berwick's calculations.

The trustees said the district has secured a USDA financing package for a roughly $3.5 million plant upgrade that includes about $1 million in grant funding. Trustees said project costs will be borne partly by existing ratepayers through standard budgeting and partly by equity buy‑in fees charged to new connections. "Part of that increase will fall partly on ratepayers that are here ... and partially will come from what equity buy‑in fees we charge to new people coming in," the administrator said.

Board members repeatedly told trustees residents have trouble finding consistent information online and often assume the town runs the sewer system. A trustee and the administrator agreed to work on clearer public communications and to schedule a joint workshop and facility tour so board members and residents can see the plant and ask questions in person. "Please, if you guys haven't gone, please go because it is really cool to see," one Select Board member said when urging site visits.

Trustees outlined technical and regulatory factors affecting rates. They said the district's permit and recent federal/state regulatory attention to nitrogen discharge mean upgraded treatment and process controls are required; the district has joined the Municipal Alliance for Adaptive Management (MAM) to coordinate regional nitrogen‑reduction research and compliance efforts. The plant holds a design permit of about 1.1 million gallons per day but is operating at roughly one‑third of that design; planned reconfiguration of tanks and additional equipment is intended to raise effective treatment capacity.

On billing and appeals, trustees said the district uses an equity buy‑in formula based on net asset value to reserve capacity for new customers and that commercial accounts are converted to EDUs with additional factors (for example, seats for assembly halls or restaurants). Trustees said there is no formal hardship program now but board members can bring emergency or hardship requests to the board for case‑by‑case review; trustees confirmed that properties deemed uninhabitable will not be charged.

Trustees acknowledged a prior evaluation (circa 2016) found converting to water‑based billing would have required paying data‑access costs to the water utility (Trustee Ken Hall recalled a roughly $8,000 data cost), which was a factor in declining that approach at the time. They also described ongoing condition assessment and preventative maintenance: line cleaning, camera inspections, and GIS mapping to pinpoint older pipes (many installed in the 1970s) and relining where needed to avoid disruptive failures.

The Select Board asked trustees to schedule a workshop and periodic updates so the town can reliably direct resident inquiries and relay accurate information. Trustees also said they will post clearer materials about billing, appeals and planned upgrades online and expedite a site tour for board members.

Next steps: trustees will work with town staff to set a semiannual update or workshop and post clearer, accessible rate information; trustee reappointments for two members were placed on the next meeting agenda.