Water committee advances sewer bylaw 6-2

Water and Sewer Infrastructure Advisory Committee · Meeting of March 11, 2026

Swampscott's Water and Sewer Infrastructure Advisory Committee voted 6-2 to send a revised sewer lateral inspection bylaw to town counsel ahead of the May Town Meeting. Precinct 3 resident Wayne Spritz submitted nine comments on the draft, pushing for mandatory CCTV inspection over smoke or dye testing alone. The bylaw would require inspection of a home's sewer connection before sale and allows fines up to $300 per day for uncorrected defects, plus liens carrying 16 percent interest.

Member Ralph warned against penalizing elderly sellers who "can't afford to keep" their homes. The committee also unanimously approved a letter to the Select Board on water-quality sampling and reported five water main breaks this year, plus an estimated $500,000 in unbilled water loss across the system.

In the full story:

• The Full Story
• Why It Matters
• Key Motions & Votes
• Source
• Swampscott's community access TV: Water and Sewer Infrastructure Advisory Committee meeting, March 11, 2026
• The complete report: 1,024 words

Source: the Water and Sewer Infrastructure Advisory Committee meeting of March 11, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.