L-R Tina Dolen (AIPC), Angelo Liberti (DEM), Saul Kaplan (RIEDC), Michael Sullivan (DEM), Michael Schrader (Woodard & Curran).

In a first-of-its-kind meeting, directors of three state departments (DEM, DOT, and EDC) met with leadership from Portsmouth, Middletown, and Newport and representatives of the Navy and O'Neill Properties to talk about the Island-wide issues of wastewater. Keith Stokes of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce hosted and moderated the two-hour event, and while the discussions produced no concrete decisions, the exchange of ideas around the table was cordial and productive.

"There have been a lot of discussions about who called the meeting and why," said RI DEM Director Michael Sullivan, "My intention as the responsible party was to discuss this from a statewide level. I tried to convene a group of individuals who had a stake; I'm foolish enough to believe we might forge a regional partnership."

Michael Schrader, the project manager from Woodard & Curran who is developing Portsmouth's facility plan described the ongoing work that led up to the meeting. Since the town is facing known issues with what is referred to as the Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL area in Island Park/Portsmouth Park, the immediate need is to develop a solution for those areas. However, given that the incremental cost of building a larger plant is low compared to the initial capital investment, Woodard & Curran are also preparing analysis of solutions reaching over to the West Side.

"As you go forward with a structural solution, looking at the cost per gallon and cost per user, there's a definite economy of scale," said Schrader. "Also, there was a desire to put a plant in [the West Side] that could serve some of the growth needs." And that was the exercise that led to this meeting: "If there's going to be a plant that solves more than just the smallest environmental problem in Portsmouth, who would be involved with that?"

The effort was applauded by representatives from both Middletown (who might conceivably have some people in the Northern end of town tie into a regional system) and Newport (who said they would welcome anything which reduced the flow they needed to process.) The spokesperson for the Navy literally said, "Alleluia." The US government, he said, was trying to get out of the business of managing utilities, and echoed support for a regional solution. He also was very clear that the "Navy will be excessing, divesting ourself of property," which is the most positive statement I've heard, though the specifics of when and what (all the tank farms?) were not spelled out.

The rep from O'Neill Properties offered logistical and and financial help. "The Bay is our best asset; we'll do anything we can do to keep it clean." He stressed that they were willing to pay for whatever they needed to do, and also offered their help in thinking through financing options. "Most homeowners are not like us with up-front capital availability," he said, "If you can make it X amount a month for the next 8 years with a way to finance you hooking in, that becomes much more palatable. To the extent you need help, our organization would be happy on a volunteer basis to particpate in that work. We buy sewage systems every day, and the average person doesn't."

And the cost of individual septic systems, the alternative to sewers, would be quite high for people in the TMDL. With the recently passed state legislation requiring the phase-out of cesspools, Portsmouth's Bob Gilstein noted that there were about 150 cesspools in the high-priority area of the TMDL alone (within 200 feet of the shoreline) which would be early targets of DEM action. At a cost of about $22K each, just those would add up to over $3 million out of the pockets of Portsmouth residents.

"If you're speding $22K a home, a tie in to Raytheon and a reconstruction of their plant would be competitive," noted the rep from O'Neill. (Sullivan was quick to point out that discussions with Raytheon had been more than a year ago, and had only been at a very high level, but that they remained interested, since they had an existing facility, and a DEM permit for discharge.)

Tina Dolen, the director of the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission, urged everyone to consider an Island-wide perspective. "We each have our town and city allegiances, but if we could leave the dancefloor and get up on the balcony, and look at the island as a whole. It really is one island," said Dolen. "Around this table, we have the money, connections, and creativity to move forward on this."

But when it came time for the Portsmouth contingent to have their say, Town Council President Dennis Canario expressed concerns. "While I can appreciate the need for regional system," said Canario, "This is something the Town Council has never discussed. It's of great importance that we follow our time schedule," he said, noting the tight timeframe before the proposed referendum in November. "I'm getting some concerns that this regional system will slow our process and cloud it to a degree that will affect the voters of Portsmouth."

Town Planner Bob Gilstein spelled out the rationale for having Woodard & Curran do the West Side analysis in the first place. The whole point, he said, was to see if "connecting to West Side would lower the cost for the TMDL enough to make enough a difference. If the answer is no," said Gilstein, "Maybe we do the TMDL by itself and consider the West Side by itself."

In addition, noted Town Administrator Bob Driscoll, "There are people who aren't convined we need a sewer system in the TMDL." There were even, he said, "People who don't think we need economic development."

Sullivan stressed that he understood and supported Portsmouth's need to keep our aggressive schedule to do what they needed to address the water pollution issues, and that he was willing to provide the town what latitude he could. Under the law, he said, "I act owner to owner. If the community acts, owners have shelter. If town collectively votes to address the sewer system, as long as we stay within the law I'm going to be supportive of the cost effective solution."

As a next step, Sullivan and Stokes promised to communicate with participants and schedule a follow-up with interested stakeholders.

The winner in this evening's the WTF category, Tailgunner Gleason's sole contribution to the discussion was to stop it. "Can we end this meeting," she said. "I've been here since 4:30 and I'm very hungry." Maybe next time, someone will remember to bring cookies. Who the hell voted for her?

Runner up for embarrassing-yourself-in-front-of-everyone award goes to the PCC's Forrest Golden, who managed to collapse one of the chairs and went ass-over-teakettle when he tried to sit down. Remember what Mel Brooks said: Tragedy is when I stub my toe; comedy is when YOU fall into a manhole.

The PCC was out in force. President Larry Fitzmorris was there with his posse (Cheshire Kathy, Liz Pietro, and Joe Robicheau) in addition to Slapstick Golden. They sat glowering suspiciously most of the time (I have pictures) but said nothing. Can't wait to see what is sure to be Larry's letter to the editor about some alleged boondoggle (despite Canario's best efforts to stress Portsmouth's insistence on our schedule).

Honestly. Does anyone really think the PCC cares about sewers, other than out of fear that they might enable development, and expand the tax base to support local government?