Immaculate Conception Parishioners Unhappy With Sewer Betterment Fees

Immaculate Conception Church parishioners packed Easton Town Offices last week to express concern about the betterment fees assessed to the church to help pay for the North Easton Village Sewer District.

The church is set to pay $125,000 in betterment fees over the next 30 years based on assessments approved by selectmen in May. The figure is the third highest in the sewer district behind the Beacon Shovelworks ($1.57 million) and the YMCA ($313,500). The average single-family home in the district will pay $20,900.

According to Joseph Shea of consulting firm Woodward and Curran, the fee assessed to the church is based on the capacity of the structures in the district to produce wastewater. The church property, with a house, a church and a recreation center is equivilent to six single-family residential houses in the rest of the district, according to Shea

Given that a single family home represents one betterment unit, the house on the church property represents one betterment unit, the church represents two and the 12,000 square foot parish center represents three.

The church owns two parcels in the sewer district and two more outside of the district. Approximately 35 percent of the parish center is located on a parcel outside of the sewer district on Jenny Lind St. while 65 percent sits on a parcel within the district on 193 Main St.

According to Shea, it is listed in the Town's Assessor's office as a building on 193 Main St. within the district.

Because of the center's location and it's limited use, parishioners believe the assessment of three betterment units for the building is unfair.

"That law doesn’t speak to usage," Shea said. "There are many cases or appeals that speak to usage, but the law clearly focuses on - you better a parcel and what is the future possibility for that parcel under current zoning."

Shea explained that other approaches to assess betterments, such as calculating sidwalk frontage, would not work out in the church's favor.

"We looked at all the possible options and this was the least impact to the church," Selectman Dottie Fulginiti said.

Selectmen said church lawyers and town lawyers have been discussing the situation.