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April 2, 2008

Crowd forces postponement of Charlestown meeting

CHARLESTOWN -- The message was clear tonight: They're going to need a bigger building.

A Town Council meeting with state environmental and coastal resource management officials on new wastewater regulations drew such a crowd that it exceeded fire code capacity and the meeting had to be postponed until April 10.

More than 100 people descended on the council chamber earlier this evening, and an announcement was made that the meeting would have to be rescheduled. The next meeting is set to take place at the Charlestown Elementary School.

The wastewater regulations took effect on Jan. 1 and are expected to affect about a third of the town. The regulations require property owners near the South County salt ponds and the Narrow River to install high-tech septic systems. The systems can cost up to three times as much as conventional systems. The rules would apply to new construction, renovations and cases of septic failure.

Some council members have expressed support for the council going to court to block enforcement of the state regulations and to force the state to prove the rules are needed. They also want the council to reconsider installing public sewers in town.

This evening, there were three maps showing the areas that fall under the regulations, and people were trying to locate their properties on them to determine if they would have to comply with the regulations.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer Maria Armental and archival reports

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 7:00 PM | Permalink

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