Island Official's Septic Permit Raises Issues of Zoning Rules

By CHRIS BURRELL

The operator of the Island's only two sewage treatment plants,
who is also a member and former chairman of the Oak Bluffs board of
health, may have sidestepped state environmental regulations when he
applied for permits to have his old house demolished and a new one built
in its place.

Joseph Alosso's property off County road sits in an area of
town called Zone 2, where strict state and local regulations protect the
town drinking water supply.

With only two months to go before the Oak Bluffs wastewater plant switches into gear, the town has no one to man the operation.

Town leaders were all set to hire a private firm to take the job, but when they took a close look at bids from four companies, it was a serious case of sticker shock. Last week, both the wastewater committee and the board of selectmen unanimously rejected all bids.

"We went down [that] route, and we just got stung badly," said wastewater committee chairman Fred Sonnenberg. The numbers, he added, "scare the life out of you."