[Adopted 5-9-2006 ATM by Art. 15; amended in its entirety 12-5-2006 STM by Art. 5]
[Amended 6-5-2021 ATM by Art. 28]
The Select Board shall have the discretion to authorize waterlines to be extended on any publicly accepted street or private way open to the public within the Town with said discretion to be exercised in conformity to the following standards.
[Amended 6-5-2021 ATM by Art. 28]
The Select Board shall not authorize the extension unless the Superintendent of Public Works has first made a determination that both the public convenience and public necessity require the same. In making such determination, the Superintendent shall consider all pertinent factors, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the cost of the waterline extension, any easements and/or maintenance incidental thereto, and the benefit to the general public resulting therefrom.
[Amended 6-5-2021 ATM by Art. 28]
Waterline extensions initiated by abutters' petitions shall not be made without the written request of 2/3 of the landowners, as certified by the Board of Assessors, whose property abuts the accepted street or private way open to the public. The Select Board may place any such request on an Annual Town Meeting warrant for funding under the provisions of this bylaw.
[Amended 6-5-2021 ATM by Art. 28]
The Select Board shall not place an article on the Annual Town Meeting warrant until the Superintendent of Public Works provides a written not-to-exceed cost estimate of the waterline extension. All costs of preparing such an estimate and the preparation of engineering plans to delineate the proposed waterline extension shall be borne by the petitioners and shall include the following costs: survey as needed, specification and plan preparation, professional cost estimates, and any other related costs.
[Amended 6-5-2021 ATM by Art. 28]
There shall be a one-hundred-percent betterment assessment of the cost of extending the waterline. However, as an alternative method the Select Board may require property abutters to the public or private way to pay 75% of the estimated cost of the waterline extension instead of 100%. Said seventy-five-percent payment shall be deposited with the Town Treasurer prior to the request being voted on by the Town Meeting. If said abutters choose to request a special assessment (betterment) to pay their share of the costs under the provisions of this bylaw, they shall submit a notarized statement (signed by 2/3 of said certified abutters) to the Select Board prior to the vote at Town Meeting acknowledging their acceptance of this cost allocation method. The cost of the waterline extension shall include all engineering services, labor, materials, equipment, and inspection and road repaving costs as estimated by the Superintendent of Public Works.
The Town's share of the cost of waterline extensions in any fiscal year shall not exceed 10% of the Department of Public Works' operating and maintenance budget for that fiscal year. Funds in excess of this limit may be appropriated at the Annual Town Meeting.
Special assessments (betterments) to meet the whole or part of the cost thereafter incurred of laying water pipes for the conveyance or distribution of water to Middleton inhabitants shall be levied to an owner of land which receives benefit from the laying of water pipes in public ways in accordance with the provisions of MGL c. 40, §§ 42G, 42H and 42I.
In the event any provision of this bylaw shall be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the validity of any other section.