Bourne Town Hall
BOURNE – The Bourne board of sewer commissioners sought to take back wastewater allocation tied up in the redevelopment of property at 105 Main Street at their recent meeting.
Led by Chairman James L. Potter, the board noted that the allocation has been in place for four years but no plans for development of the property has been filed with the town.
Potter believes this allocation is preventing projects closer to breaking ground from moving forward.
Local developer Vincent P. Michienzi is seeking to transform the parcel into a residential-commercial structure and currently has 27,000 gallons of wastewater allocation from the town.
While the property has attracted some attention from investors, most interested parties are waiting to see how the redevelopment of Buzzards Bay plays out before investing money.
“I’m asking for 6 to 8 [more] months to dig my heels in and do some really strong marketing and get someone down here to do the right thing,” said Michienzi.
Michienzi’ wife, Noreen P. Michienzi, is the owner of the 105 Main Street property which is the location of the old Buzzards Bay movie theater.
Currently the property has an assessed value of $219,000 and measures in at 16,988 square feet.
Potter asked Michienzi if he would consider relinquishing 10,000 gallons of allocation to which Michienzi said no.
At the center of this issue is the amount of available wastewater allocation the town can offer new developments in Buzzards Bay.
An agreement in place allows for Bourne to send 200,000 gallons a day to a treatment facility in Wareham.
According to Town Administrator Anthony E. Schiavi some of the appropriation of wastewater is tied up with other properties similar to 105 Main Street.
At present the town has about 1,408 gallons of unassigned capacity.
Michienzi claims that he needs the full allocated amount to market the property and that his vison for the parcel is in line with the town’s Local Comprehensive Plan.
Potter said that the job of the sewer commission is to review the needs of existing projects and countered that Michienzi has not filed anything with the town regarding his redevelopment.
It was noted by Town Engineer Timothy P. Lydon that the wastewater treatment plant that is set to go in next to the new Bourne Police Station is still 15 months away from completion.
The plant is projected to increase the town’s sewer capacity by 100,000 gallons a day.
Lydon proposed that any project of Michienzi’s that will take longer than the 15 months for the treatment plan, to begin operations.
In this proposal, the commission could take back a portion of Michienzi’s allotment and place him first in line to have his capacity restored once the new plant is completed.
Potter agreed with Lydon, stating his suggestion was similar in that he wanted to give some appropriation back to the town.
He also reaffirmed his assertion that the commission cannot allow 27,000 gallons of allocation to go unused.
Schiavi mentioned that an unidentified project in town requires about 2,300 gallons per day of wastewater appropriation and to accommodate the need, the project would need about 1,000 gallons of Michienzi’s allotment.
Michienzi agreed to give up that allocation stating that he wants people to do business in town.
“If you need a few gallons to get that project off the ground I told you last time I’d be happy to give it up at that time to make another project mover forward,” Michienzi continued.
“I do not want to stop any progress in the town of Bourne.”
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