$76 million water project denied in Eastham

NORTH EASTHAM — It wasn't even close this time as Eastham voters rejected a proposed $76 million municipal water system at a special town meeting at Nauset Regional High School last night.

Last spring, the same proposal missed achieving the required two-thirds majority by just a handful of votes. This time, with 501 votes cast, it came up 76 votes short with 258 voting in favor and 217 opposed.

Despite a panel of experts to answer questions and a publicity campaign that sought to educated the public on the need for a townwide water system, a large segment of the voters just didn't see slowly deteriorating water quality as enough of an imminent threat, and they distrusted the fiscal unknowns of a $76 million project that spanned more than 20 years.

"The devil you know is better than the one you don't," said resident Richard Ryder in objecting to the proposal.

Town Administrator Sheila Vanderhoef told voters that municipal wells in the relatively undeveloped eastern portion of town would guarantee better water quality than private well water, that fire hydrants would lower home insurance rates, raise property values and provide water during power outages.

Eastham is the last town on Cape to have no municipal water system at all. Its businesses and dwellings are all served by private wells on the same lot as their septic systems. Septic effluent is the primary contaminant of Eastham's wells.

Vanderhoef pointed to surveys of private wells that show the number of wells that exceeded county and federal standards was slowly on the rise. More alarmingly, the surveys reveal a relatively rapid decrease in the number of wells showing no impact from septic or other contaminants.

"The least we can do to show our love for this town, and for those who come after us, is to be sure that future generations in this town will be able to turn on a spigot and have drinkable water," Bernie Kaplan pleaded with voters.

But Paul Lothrop, chairman of the board of health, felt the cost was underestimated, especially when new employees of water department were added to the town payroll. He also felt that water quality would suffer with what he saw as the inevitability of chlorination.

"You will be paying $100 million for chemically enhanced water," he said.

Many voters seemed more concerned about the fiscal details of the project, especially with the town still facing the possibility of partial sewering of the town to deal with wastewater problems.

"We'll regroup," said Karl Weiss, the water resources advisory board chairman.

Weiss believed they would work on a smaller system that could be added on to later, as needed.

There were only two articles on the warrant. Voters agreed to allow $36,000 in Community Preservation Act funds to be spent to repair the oldest portion of the Schoolhouse Museum.

Doug Fraser can be reached at dfraser@capecodonline.com.