To the Editor:

I am a newly appointed member of the OLWPCA (Old Lyme Water Pollution Control Authority) but am writing here not as a WPCA representative but as a property owner in Old Lyme.

My property in ‘Area B’ – near the railroad tracks – was recently appraised at $210,900. It consists of 712 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. It is seasonal. 

Let’s assume for the moment that all current received bids hold without increases once they expire June 30th and let’s assume for the moment that Miami Beach receives a bid this fourth go-around and Old Lyme Shores receives an acceptable bid in its third go-around. 

My property is assigned 1 [one] Equivalent Dwelling Unit [EDU.] Based on the Chairman Cinami’s latest figures and after an assumed 50% reimbursement is applied, I will owe $38,000 for construction fees. In a written quote from B&L, I will owe an additional $8,700 to decommission my engineered septic system and run a new line to the curb. Then of course, there’s those additional town contractual fees of the project; 1.3 million owed to East Lyme and New London to connect,  plus maintenance, management, bookkeeping, bioxide, easements, legal, consulting fees and repairs, etc. These additional charges cannot be divided by 270 EDUS because the undeveloped lots (including the bus stop!) equate to 9 EDUs that must be subtracted from maintenance billing.

Furthermore, the Chairman has said that some properties will be granted variances to delay connecting so those properties as well, cannot be billed for maintenance until some later date. Hard to guess what all that extra maintenance and contractual fees will cost me then when I connect, but let’s say conservatively it totals another $600 a year, plus $400 a year for actual usage based on flow. In summary then, it’s $1000 a year in contractual and maintenance and usage fees for the next 20 years or $20,000 (we’ll set aside that these contracts have escalation clauses after year 1). I’m up to $66,700 for a sewer to replace my perfectly fine engineered system on my property that is appraised at $210,900. That’s 31.63% of the appraised value. I will be paying minimally $3,445 per year for the next 20 years for something I do not need.

You call that fair? 

There are 29 single family homes in Area B. Sixteen are appraised less than $255,000. They will all be charged just like me. Nadeau Associates stated that the value added to a residential property [after installation of a new sewer system] is 7% and the OLWPCA expert Christopher Kerin [of the real estate valuation and advisory firm Kerin & Fazio LLC] says it’s 10%. All of the 29 residential homes in Area B and the majority of the commercial properties, will fail that test. 

And given the following quote from Graham Stevens [of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection] in 2023 to OLSSPA [Old Lyme Shoreline Sewer Project Alliance] that, “Determination that project area user charges to finance the project in excess of 2% MHI [Median Household Income] are unaffordable” indicates that only the medium income of Area B/Sound View should be considered – not the town. I am betting that all of Area B, and Sound View will fail that 2% income affordability test if it is applied the right way. Just because our properties are located near the railroad tracks, does not give you the right to railroad us. Play fair Old Lyme!   

Sincerely,

Brian Cornell,
Old Lyme.