Kingston Sewer Commission Advances 800-Parcel Expansion Study Before July Funding Deadline

KINGSTON — April 7, 2026 — Kingston Sewer Commission launches preliminary design effort for an 800-parcel sewer expansion tied to a July 2026 state loan deadline. The commission convened an April 7 public informational meeting with roughly 16 town officials and stakeholders to hear CDM Smith project manager Kara Rozicki present findings from the 2022 Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan and outline a proposed 10-month, 30-percent design phase covering eight areas of town, just over 30,000 linear feet of gravity sewer, two new pump stations, and approximately 800 parcels. The environmental drivers are nitrogen reduction in Kingston Bay and the Jones River watershed — the Massachusetts Estuaries Project found Kingston Bay requires a 40 percent septic load reduction — and protection of municipal drinking water wells, where nitrate readings at the Millgate well have climbed from roughly one and a half to two milligrams per liter in 2022 to as high as three and a half milligrams per liter since. Rozicki warned that missing a July 2026 application window for the state's zero-percent interest clean water State Revolving Fund loan would push construction from 2028 to 2029 at the earliest. The commission also flagged a separate budget concern: Director Dave told commissioners he had identified approximately $90,000 in potentially unjustified town-allocated cost charges — including a $10,000 internet fee assessed against a two-computer office — and said he planned to seek explanations from the accounting department before spring town meeting warrant articles are due around April 21.