Sorrento sewer problems
Despite improvements made to stop sewer ponds from flooding in Sorrento, sewage has backed up into homes and now the town could be forced to pay for the damage.
Residents voiced their concerns at a town council meeting Tuesday night.
Mayor Blake LeBlanc said the problem stems from a broken pump station and sludge that has yet to be cleaned out of the town's sewer ponds.
"It is an emergency," said Mayor LeBlanc.
The town was waiting on grant money to start the work, but that never came through. Now, the council will have to dip into savings or find another way to finance the project. LeBlanc said fixing the ponds is his top priority because raw sewage is a health hazard.
The town is applying for a land use permit from the Department of Environment Equality. Once given permission, the council can hire a contractor to clear the sludge.
That might not happen until early next year.
The Department of Health and Hospitals plans to issue a violation, requiring the town to have adequate pump capacity with its system.
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donald at Oct 21st 2009 4:10 PM
If the two previos Council and Mayors would have done something in the past the town people would not be in the shape it is in.
Instead of sweeping it under the rug and doing what was right from the start. Lot of residents in Sorrento was not told anything about the sewer problems, The new Council has to deal with this big mess. The Residents of Sorrento will have to pay extra money because of the past two Councils and Mayor, how about the people of Sorrento charge them tripple taxes to them for what they have done.
jane at Oct 22nd 2009 4:50 PM
As the lead council member, Troy Braud should have taken a more responsible role in solving this problem. Instead she chose to look for problems where problems did not exist. She wasted tax payer dollars on witch hunts. If she would have spent more time and effort on the sewer problem, the town could have corrected this with little or no tax dollars. Now the town will have to spend millons of tax payer dollars.
Now she claims the voters of Sorrento have lied to her. She has pulled down all her signs because she didnt get enough votes. Does Sorrento need this kind of leadship?