Erving Select Board Approves In-House Sewer Fix for Repeat-Backup Flag Hill Road Line

ERVING -- June 24, 2021, Erving Select Board charts in-house sewer replacement on Flag Hill Road after third backup in a year. Meeting in a special June 24 session, Chair Jacob Smith and members William Bembury and James Loynd reached consensus to repair a failing Orangeburg clay sewer line serving four Flag Hill Road homes using town staff rather than outside contractors, a choice that town highway staff estimated at $10,000 to $15,000 versus a contracted cost of $100,000 to $150,000. Town staff reported that emergency clearing by Fletcher Sewer and Drain that morning had restored flow after mechanical cutters removed root intrusion and recovered what one worker described as items including "a small bath towel" and wipes flushed by residents. The board directed the town administrator to seek legal advice on resident liability and to draft a written warning letter to all four connected households, and authorized staff to begin ordering sewer structures from the $10,000 already budgeted in the fiscal year 2022 capital improvement line.