WESTBOROUGH – Recently, Albrecht Auto Group purchased the building at 80 Turnpike Road. It plans to convert it into a service and storage facility.
As its application makes its way through town boards, Albrecht is running into problems with the town’s sewer moratorium. The issue – allocation vs. actual use.
The town imposed a 12-month sewer moratorium, effective May 1. During the Planning Board meeting on Tuesday, July 16, representatives from Albrecht discussed the sewer allocation.
According to General Manager Anthony Carbone, the business is allowed 1,380 gallons per day (gpd), per Title 5 regulations. Since it’s a pre-existing use, Carbone said the current allocation should remain.
He said that the actual flows are “substantially lower,” according to sewer bills received from the town; the flows for both 80 and 82 Turnpike add up to about 450 gpd, he said.
Carbone said he would prefer the current 1,380 gpd, and the business would “deed it” for whomever next purchases the building.
He and Barry Yaceshyn of WDA Design Group told the board that if the allocation is lowered, the plans could come to a halt.
“It would make the building unusable in the future,” said Yaceshyn. “To penalize an existing building just doesn’t seem right.”
In the days leading up to the Planning Board meeting, town officials exchanged memos with Albrecht about sewer allocation. These emails underline the complex challenges the town faces as it tries to figure out how to properly allocate and measure sewer flow.
On July 9, Town Engineer Lisa Allain sent a memo, which in part reads, “There are no records of any sewer connection permits or sewer connection fees being paid for this property. There are several building permits on file beginning in 1974 and one special permit recorded in October of 1997. It is unknown exactly when the property tied into the public sewer system. Therefore, historical sewer usage was based on the uses specified in the special permit and Title 5 categories. This results in 990 gallons per day.
“The town recognizes that Title 5 overestimates actual usage therefore a factor of 0.75 shall be applied to the Title 5 calculation in determining historical usage and proposed usage. Permits shall be issued based on the modified flow.”
“The property has a current allocation of 743 gpd (990 gpd x 0.75). Any proposed use shall be equal to or less than 743 gpd. Proposed flow shall be determined by using Title 5 and applying the 0.75 factor.”
On July 16, Building Inspector Fred Lonardo issued this memo, “… as indicated in previous email correspondence with WDA, the building may use a maximum of 1,035 gallons per day. Projected gpd shall be based on Title 5 with a 0.75 factor applied to it.”
During the Planning Board meeting, Allain reiterated that the allocation of 1,380 gpd was an “overestimate;” with the 0.75 factored,the allocation would be adjusted to about 1,100 gpd.
The public hearing for Albrecht Auto Group was continued to Tuesday, Aug. 6.
