The Walker Creek, Little River and Jones River neighborhoods in Gloucester are all notorious for failed septic systems near estuaries of the Annisquam River. According to the Gloucester Daily Times:
“A City Council committee working with representatives of Mayor John Bell has drafted an ordinance that makes it highly unlikely the city will help subsidize betterments in future sewer expansions, as it has since the 1980s. A public hearing on the draft ordinance was tentatively scheduled for Dec.11. The draft replaces a simple repeal proposal that had been expected fortwo years…. Two years ago, the mayor's Sewer Task Force identified those areas as needing to be brought onto the municipal sewer system. But unless the projects to bring them on are mandated by a state or federal order, they would not qualify under the draft ordinance for the same betterment subsidy that other sections of the city received.”The article reports that according to the Sewer Task Force, there are about 300 homes along Walker Creek. Without the subsidy, the projected betterment bill to each in 2005 was estimated at $40,000.
Read the entire Gloucester Daily Times article