Show All Answers

1. For residents of Skyline Drive and Webster Avenue (private roads), where can the signed and notarized easement documents be sent once fully executed?

The Town requires the original signed and notarized documents.  Please mail them to:

Ken Beaugrand
Real Estate Specialist

Housing and Real Estate Office
6 Broad Street, Nantucket, MA 02554.

2. Does the Board of Water Commissioners offer waivers of the water connection permit fees for covenant lots like the Select Board does for sewer connection permit fees?

No, the Board of Water Commissioners does not offer full waivers for Covenant Lots. However, Covenant Lots are offered the discounted rate of $2500 for connection.  

3. Is the Town/Airport Commission going to test private wells in the water main expansion area?

No, neither the Town nor the Airport will be testing private wells in the project area.

4. What is the time frame for putting in this system?

Because the water main expansion project is being funded through the State’s Revolving Fund Loan Program (SRF) there are strict deadlines attached to the project. The Town intends to start construction in the fall of 2023.

            

5. How much is the water main costing the Town?

As of October 2022, the water main expansion project is estimated to cost $8,212,500:

• Water system expansion planning and modeling                      $147,700
• State Revolving Fund Loan application assistance                     $14,000
• Design, engineering, permitting, testing                                   $250,800
• Material and construction                                                       $7,800,000

6. How is the Town paying for the water main?

The Town applied for and received a $7,800,000 State Revolving Fund (SRF) zero-interest loan to assist in funding the water main expansion project which only pays for material and construction.  Subsequently, the Town increased this request to $8,300,000 when submitting its updated application and design on October 14, 2022 due to anticipated increase in costs. 

This SRF loan does not fund permitting, design, engineering, or other ancillary costs.   To fund these costs and the repayment of the SRF loan the Town has appropriated the following funds through Annual Town Meetings and Election:

• $750,000 – 2021 ATM Article 10 – PFAS Groundwater (Borrowing)
• $9,000,000 – 2022 ATM Article 10 –Water Main (Debt exclusion)
• $9,000,000 – 2022 ATE Ballot Question 13 Water Main (Debt Exclusion) 
• $2,000,000 – 2022 ATM Article 18 – PFAS Soil Investigation(s)

7. Will hook-ups be optional or mandatory?

The Board of Health could require a mandatory hookup if someone has a contaminated well.

8. What is the fee to tie in at a later date if an owner in the water main expansion does not tie into Town water immediately?

The Nantucket Water Department will hold the $2,500 reduced water tie in fee for as long needed.  There is no expiration date to tie in at the discounted rate.

9. Will water connections likely follow similar paths to the houses as utilities?

TBD. Plans are currently being designed.

10. Is there a survey available of the easements locations? Has the layout for the installation of the water lines been determined as to what side of the street?

The easement plans for this new project are being developed but will not have a specific easement location marked out. It will be similar to the easement plan that was just finished by the Airport water main project on a portion of Skyline Drive. It would be difficult to map out all the laterals that will be run to each property. The design engineers are still determining the side of the street the water line will run and will have final plans completed for the state to review by early November.

 

11. Will homeowners bear costs of connection to the house from the water main stubs?

The Town will be bringing the water stubs to the edge of every property, and it will be up to the property owner to pay to connect. The Town won’t be doing any work on private property, just in the road layout.

12. Can existing private wells remain as the water supply for irrigation purposes?

If a property owner in the project area has his/her well tested and PFAS has been detected, the Public Health Director recommends against allowing irrigation wells that are known to have levels of contamination. The Public Health Department would rather the owners abandon the well in its entirety to avoid increasing the PFAS cycle. Installing a filter system on that well is not the answer as the filters will simply concentrate the contaminant, and needs to be handled as hazardous waste, which is expensive.