Town of Brewster, MA Water Betterments

In the event property owners, who own property on a roadway without Town water, wish the Town of Brewster to finance the installation of a water main, the group shall engage an engineer who is experienced in water main design and construction, who is approved by the Water Department, and who shall survey the road or roads in question to develop a plan for the installation of the water main along the roadway or roadways. The plan shall take into consideration and note existing drainage, berms, driveway aprons, trees, utilities, road edge improvements and other items that must be protected, deconstructed and reconstructed, restored, or otherwise considered in defining the conditions of work for the water main installation project. The project design must meet all best waterworks practices and the most current Brewster Water Department specifications for materials and installation. A preliminary plan shall be submitted to the Water Department for design approval.

§ 171-2 Responsibilities of petitioners.

All costs of preparing the water installation plan, obtaining cost estimates, securing and recording easements, and preparing the petition described below shall be the exclusive responsibility of the petitioners. Easements will be required for the lots upon which the main installation will occur. Obtaining the completed easements shall be the exclusive responsibility of the petitioners. The easements must be recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds prior to the selection of bids as specified by § 171-5. In the event the petitioned water main must cross private land to reach the petitioners' roadway, all additional, needed easements must also be granted.

§ 171-3 Preparation of petition.

After the plan has been prepared and the design approved by the Water Department, the property owners' engineer shall secure at least three bids from contractors on the current list of water installers approved by the Brewster Water Department. After receipt of the bids, the property owners shall prepare a petition to the Board of Water Commissioners for the Town of Brewster to finance the work in an amount certain, including a ten-percent contingency amount. The petition shall list the parcels according to their Assessors' map and parcel numbers, furnish the respective record owners' names, and provide a space for each owner to place his or her signature. The petition must state that each signature represents an irrevocable agreement by each signatory to repay to the Town of Brewster, through the mechanism of a betterment added to each owner's real estate tax bill, his or her pro-rata share of the total amount to be financed, plus interest and administrative costs. Town administrative costs shall not exceed 4% of the project cost.

The petition shall not be presented to the Water Commissioners unless 50% of all the abutters to the road, plus one more abutter, shall have agreed to the project and its financial commitment by having signed it.

§ 171-4 Submission of petition; action by Water Commissioners.

The petition, accompanied by the engineer's plan, a map depicting both the entire length of the proposed water main and the segments of roadways involved, and the data supporting the cost estimates, shall be submitted to the Water Department on or before August 31. The Water Commissioners shall refer every such petition to the Assessors' office for verification of signatures and confirmation that more than 50% of abutters have signed. The Water Commissioners shall consider all submitted petitions that pass the Assessors' examination prior to September 30. The Water Commissioners shall determine whether the proposed water main project is in the public interest and whether this water main project is within the financial capability of the Town.

The amount to be charged against each parcel of land receiving such benefit shall include the cost of the pipes and other material and of the labor in laying them and other expenses incidental thereto and shall be ascertained, assessed and certified by the Water Commissioners or the other officers in charge of the supply and distribution of water in such city, town or district.

The Board of Water Commissioners may then place the plan on the warrant for the next Annual Town Meeting. If the Water Commissioners or other Town boards or departments suggest modifications that change the scope of work or costs, the Board of Water Commissioners may, at its option, send the abutters proxies to the abutters noting scope and cost changes, or it may return the project to the petitioners. If proxies are sent out, they must be returned by December 31 in order to qualify the project for consideration at the next Annual Town Meeting.

Provided that more than 50% of the abutters approved the revisions and returned their proxies by December 31, the Board of Water Commissioners may place the project on the Annual Town Meeting Warrant.

The Board of Water Commissioners shall record in the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds a statement which shall specify the ways in which the water mains will be laid, which will designate the land, if any, that does not abut any specified way but which will be assessed for the improvement, and which shall designate the parcel owners liable for the betterment assessments.

§ 171-5 Action by Town Meeting; Project Manager.

If the Annual Town Meeting votes to endorse and finance the project, the engineer who did the original plan shall be named "Project Manager." He or she shall prepare a new request for quotations with the bids to be directed to the Water Superintendent. The Project Manager, Water Superintendent, and the Town Administrator shall select the best bid to do the work. The Project Manager shall advise the Water Superintendent 48 hours in advance of each phase of the project and certify, in writing, to the Water Superintendent that each phase of the work has been completed to the Project Manager's satisfaction. A water inspector, approved by the Water Department, must be present and inspect all water work. The final report of the inspector must be presented to and accepted by the Water Superintendent who will then certify to the Town Accountant that the work is completed so that payment can be made. After the acceptance of and payment for the completed project, the Water Department shall take possession and shall assume ownership of the water main and appurtenances for the Town. Once the water main has been accepted by the Water Department, abutters may apply for a water service connection through the standard Department procedure.

§ 171-6 Subdivisions with mandatory homeowners' associations.

For a group of roads within a subdivision in which membership in a neighborhood property owners' association is automatic or mandatory, the same procedure shall be used:

So long as a majority of the owners of the lots abutting the group of roadways to be included in the water main installation project signs the petition and, when they are used, the proxies specified in the preceding sections; and

So long as the water main location and the group of roadways to be included in the water main installation project are owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by the neighborhood association or its members and all needed easements have been granted.

§ 171-7 Liability.

The Town of Brewster shall not be held responsible for nor incur liability of any nature for damage or expense arising from the petitioned project or from this arrangement for financing the installation of water mains along private ways. Abutters, by accepting Town financing, thereby agree to indemnify and hold the Town harmless from such liability and expense or to take any other action relative thereto.