Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H1073 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1493 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1073
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Steven George Xiarhos
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to wastewater treatment and disposal in the town of Sandwich.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Steven George Xiarhos5th Barnstable1/15/2025 1 of 3
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1493 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1073
18	18	By Representative Xiarhos of Barnstable, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1073) of
19	19	Steven George Xiarhos (by vote of the town) relative to wastewater treatment and disposal in the
20	20	town of Sandwich. Environment and Natural Resources. [Local Approval Received.]
21	21	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
22	22	SEE HOUSE, NO. 3816 OF 2023-2024.]
23	23	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
24	24	_______________
25	25	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
26	26	(2025-2026)
27	27	_______________
28	28	An Act relative to wastewater treatment and disposal in the town of Sandwich.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
30	30	of the same, as follows:
31	31	1 SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the town of
32	32	2Sandwich may enter into a contract for wastewater treatment and disposal services for a term not
33	33	3to exceed 99 years with the private operator of the wastewater treatment and disposal facilities
34	34	4located at Joint Base Cape Cod. The contract shall not be subject to the public bidding
35	35	5requirements of chapter 30B of the General Laws. The treatment and disposal facilities are
36	36	6located in the towns of Sandwich and Bourne on land owned in part by the federal government
37	37	7and in part by the commonwealth and subject to a lease between the commonwealth and the
38	38	8federal government acting through the secretary of the United States Air Force. A private
39	39	9operator has entered into an exchange agreement with the United States Air Force in which, the 2 of 3
40	40	10ownership of the wastewater treatment and disposal facilities has been transferred to the private
41	41	11operator.
42	42	12 SECTION 2. The town of Sandwich may acquire and the commonwealth may grant to
43	43	13the town of Sandwich, an easement or other interest in the land or wastewater treatment and
44	44	14disposal facilities located on Joint Base Cape Cod for the purpose of securing access and a
45	45	15property interest in all or a portion of such facilities utilized to provide wastewater treatment and
46	46	16disposal facilities on behalf of the town.
47	47	17 The town of Sandwich may acquire an access easement for sewer transmission lines from
48	48	18the town of Mashpee. Any such easement or other interest in land granted to the town of
49	49	19Sandwich pursuant to this act shall cause the town of Sandwich to have an ownership interest in
50	50	20any wastewater treatment and disposal facilities constructed within the area of such easement or
51	51	21other interest in land, for purposes of chapter 29C of the General Laws.
52	52	22 SECTION 3. Notwithstanding any general or special law or regulation to the contrary,
53	53	23any capital contribution made by the town of Sandwich for improvements to the Joint Base Cape
54	54	24Cod wastewater treatment and disposal facilities that are constructed for the purpose of obtaining
55	55	25treatment and disposal capacity to serve the needs of the town of Sandwich shall be eligible for
56	56	26funding under chapter 29C of the General Laws and the town may incur debt for a term of not
57	57	27more than 30 years for the purposes of this act. Any such debt shall be excluded from the
58	58	28limitation on indebtedness set forth in section 10 of chapter 44 of the General Laws. Except as
59	59	29otherwise provided herein, any debt issued by the town of Sandwich for the purposes of this act
60	60	30shall be subject to the provisions of chapter 44 of the General Laws. 3 of 3
61	61	31 SECTION 4. The town of Sandwich may enter into 1 or more inter-municipal agreements
62	62	32pursuant to section 4A of chapter 40 of the General Laws or joint powers agreements pursuant to
63	63	33section 4A½ of chapter 40 of the General Laws with the towns of Barnstable, Bourne, Falmouth,
64	64	34and Mashpee or any other governmental unit for wastewater treatment and disposal services at
65	65	35the facility.
66	66	36 SECTION 5. This act shall take effect upon its passage.