Sewer system at center of debate

12/21/08

Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch took office about a year ago with no way to know about the fiscal time bomb about to go off in his city. Years of easy credit and questionable mortgages were just beginning to yield the mountain of foreclosures that has hurt the entire country, and devastated places like Bridgeport.

As part of his election campaign, Finch promised a return to budgetary honesty. The recent past, he charged, had been rife with one-time budget items filling the gaps. It wasn't, he said, the right way to plan for the future. He was right then, and today, even as the budget situation deteriorates, he's still right.

That's why he's on dangerous ground with a plan to allow connection to the city sewer system by a development in Monroe. Under the terms of a proposed deal, the campus of a new Jewish Home for the Elderly on Main Street in Monroe would hook into the Bridgeport sewage system, already shared by Trumbull. There's nothing wrong with the idea, but Bridgeport must make sure it doesn't get fleeced in the process.

Finch is reportedly negotiating a one-time payment to the city in the $2 million range to compensate for use of the city's sewage system and treatment plants. That's money the city could desperately use as it tries to cover a $20 million budget gap, but it does not take into account the long-term outlook.

A smaller, regular payment makes more sense. Just as budgeting one-time payments for land sales does not make for sound accounting, this deal would do nothing for the city in future years, when the need could be just as great. The city could be in effect giving away its services for the foreseeable future.

A deal must also be contingent on a clear understanding of the scope of development. If Bridgeport decides its system can handle the Jewish Home, that should not be a green light for further development in Monroe to hook into the sewer lines without increased compensation.

The other issue, which the city denies is a problem, is capacity. There is no question that separating stormwater from regular sewer lines is in Bridgeport's long-term interest, and though it's not an issue likely to win many votes, it's the type of infrastructure upgrade the city needs to become and stay competitive.

It is worrying, though, to see questions arise about limited capacity, even if this project doesn't pose a problem. What will happen if development finally happens at the end of Main Street, at the former Pequonnock Apartments site and, most of all, Steel Point? Those and other projects represent quite a few new toilets flushing into the system. The city must make sure it has an adequate answer to that question.