Westfield – At the January 26 Natural Resources Committee meeting, Chairwoman Kristen Mello and Member Dan Ely continued to discuss sewer availability and local regulations regarding septic systems, and the City Council’s requirement to connect homeowners City sewers when ordinance making capacity is available.
Mello said that when last discussed a year ago, the committee left the discussion with the understanding that a regulation requiring connections to city sewers should be made by the Board of Health, and that the city council Can’t do anything about existing homes not connected.
In August of 2021, the Board of Health voted to rescind the 2017 rule under which the Department of Health was responsible for enforcement due to lack of resources. In the minutes of that meeting, Director of Health Joseph Rouse said he had spoken to a city councilman who offered to bring it before the council and make it an ordinance rather than a regulation, and that the first step would be the Board of Health voting on the regulation. cancel.
