Oak Bluffs is now flush with funds to augment its wastewater system after becoming the first town to join the Cape and Islands Water Protection Fund.
At a special joint meeting of the Oak Bluffs Select Board and the Oak Bluffs Wastewater Commission last Tuesday, board members unanimously approved joining the fund, which was created in 2018.
The fund pools money for member municipalities’ water-related projects, such as expansions to wastewater treatment plants or improving water quality. It was first established to help Cape Cod towns, all 15 of which are fund members, address the region’s need for wastewater infrastructure and degraded water quality.
The funds are sourced from a 2.75 percent excise tax on short-term rentals and hotels, which places a partial burden of funding the region’s water projects on visitors, a population that typically increases in the summer months. Oak Bluffs wouldn’t have been able to add this additional excise tax without becoming a member, since it already hit the local excise tax limit of 6 percent, which is in addition to the state excise tax of 5.75 percent.
Among Island towns, Oak Bluffs is at the forefront of expanding its wastewater capacity. The work is based on the town’s comprehensive wastewater management plan, a multi-phase initiative that is estimated to cost $105 million over 30 years. Though this includes the amount some people will need to pay for septic system upgrades, it doesn’t reflect the total amount the town will pay.
Oak Bluffs officials at the meeting were wary of the large looming projects the town faces, so they are pressing to fund increases to the town’s wastewater capacity, which also helps limit the amount of nitrogen that enters into the watersheds. Included in the upcoming projects is a new campus for Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School that is expected to start construction next summer, and Green Villa, a 116-unit housing development, approved by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission in May in a split decision. Green Villa’s site abuts Tackenash Knoll, a 60-unit Island Housing Trust project already under construction.
While town officials went over the details of joining the fund, the consensus was that while residents of some areas may pay more than others, such as those who become newly attached to the municipal system, it would ultimately save the town and taxpayers money.
“Everybody means everybody. It means the hospital. It means the rest of the campgrounds. It means everybody else,” Dion Alley, select board chair, said.
Cassandra Bowler, wastewater commissioner, said joining the fund is estimated to save the town $17 million in the long run. The fund can subsidize 25 percent of qualifying projects over $1 million and 50 percent for qualifying smaller projects. Oak Bluffs also has a $23.3 million state revolving fund, a low-interest loan for municipal projects, that the protection fund can help cover.
“We’ve been, ‘oh no,’ [in] O.B. forever,” Bowler said of the limited availability of wastewater. “It’d be nice to go, ‘Yeah, you can.’”
Even if the town doesn’t get as much back as was put in through the excise tax, Oak Bluffs officials noted this was an investment into future projects, or as wastewater commissioner Thomas Hallahan put it, a “good neighbor fund.”
Expansion of the wastewater facilities include adding nearly 400 homes to the Lagoon Pond neighborhood connected to the municipal system. While the new members would pay for the upgrades over time, the amount will be lower if the town split the costs with the protection fund.
Oak Bluffs would also have access to a large library and a cohort of municipal officials to consult for questions through the fund.
The town still has a variety of tasks to accomplish, including codifying data on who uses wastewater and setting forums to educate residents on the timeline and updated cost estimates.
