06/17/08
Extended sewer service area encompasses Eastman Meadows,
abutting properties
The Town Council has officially approved an extension of the town's sewer
service area to include Eastman Meadows, a 46-unit condominium project that
was granted preliminary approval by the Planning Board last month.
The council gave preliminary approval to the sewer service area extension
back in March 2007, when the project's review process with the Town began.
The extension has now been recommended by the Planning Board.
At their meeting June 9, the council's approved the sewer service area to
include the condominium project, as well as the area on Eastman Road between
the project and existing sewer service.
The project calls for 46 new condominiums marketed toward the 55-and-older
age group. It also includes an existing farm house, which developer Joel
Fitzpatrick, operating as Wyley Enterprises LLC, plans to retain on a separate
lot.
Fitzpatrick plans to extend sewer service to the project on Eastman Road
by installing approximately 2,300 feet of line to the existing gravity service
near Spurwink Avenue.
"As part of the sewer extension, the developer, in coordination with the
Town, will install service stubs (force main) to abutting properties during
the installation process," said project engineer Owens McCullough, of Sebago
Technics, in a memo to Town Manager Michael McGovern.
Cost of the extension, estimated at $600,000, will be paid by Fitzpatrick,
while the stubs will be funded by the Town's sewer fund. The stubs will allow
abutters on Eastman Road to connect to the sewer if they wish.
In a memo to the council, McGovern said that connection to the sewer by abutters
is optional. "Our experience in the past is that as septic systems fail and/or
as homes are sold, the sewer suddenly becomes a much desired option," he
said. "Long range planning would benefit all of these properties by giving
them the option to connect to the sewer," his memo says.
Approximately 15 stubs would be included in the connecting line. Estimated
cost for the stubs was $40,000 a year ago, McGovern said, but the final cost
would be determined by bid. The sewer fund balance was $309,000 at the end
of the last fiscal year, he said.
The area is in the Town's residence B zoning district, a district targeted
for growth, but which also requires dedication of open space for new development
projects.
The council's vote June 9 also conditionally accepted 10 acres of the 41-acre
Eastman Meadows parcel as open space. An additional 16.5 acres will be granted
to the condominium association. Approximately 65 percent of the property
is being preserved as open space.
The open space accepted by the Town abuts the existing Winnick Woods
trail system. Two pedestrian easements will also be provided from Eastman
Road to the Town's open space.
The council's conditional approval of the sewer line and the open space marks
a half-way point in the Town's review of the project. Eastman Meadows is
now subject to final review and approval by the Planning Board, as well as
various state approvals. "More than likely, it will be next year when we
do this," McCullough said of the project construction.
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