WOBURN - After hearing about a situation one alderman called "the civil service shuffle," members of the City Council implored the Department of Public Works to resolve problems with a municipal sewer line on Maywood Terrace.

"All I can tell you is I'm sorry," said Ward 5 Alderman Darlene Mercer-Bruen, to Maywood Terrace resident Tracey Gangi-Johnson.

"I thought we had a solution, and I'm disappointed with how this has played out," added Mercer-Bruen.

The DPW has hired a consultant to solve the problem with the sewer line, which Gangi-Johnson said has been on-going for decades and has resulted in sewage flowing into her basement and onto her lawn, problems which she and her family have remedied at their own expense.

"It's never occurred to me to seek financial recompense," said Gangi-Johnson.

Maywood Terrace is a dead end road off Beach Street, near Woodbrook Cemetery. Gangi-Johnson's property borders the Kennedy Middle School and the sewer line apparently handles outflow from a nearby housing development.

Maywood Terrace

Gangi-Johnson told the council's Water Committee her family has been aware of problems with the line since the '60s, when they became aware they "didn't want to put anything in the sewer system that doesn't belong there."

In 1999, Gangi-Johnson's father had to remove between one and two 40-gallon trash barrels of sewage from the house, and by 2002-2003 city officials were contacted about the problem.

The DPW started a regular maintenance program in 2006, and a year later former Supt. Frederick Russell told Gangi-Johnson there needed to be an evaluation of the sewer line.

By 2007, she asked elected officials - Mercer-Bruen and Mayor Thomas McLaughlin - to become involved. Last December, test data proved "inconclusive" but by March of this year there was an indication the source of the problem was a sag in the line.

Gangi-Johnson said she was told the pipeline would be replaced, and pipes were dropped off at the end of the dead end street, but by August there had been no construction work.

She was then told there is not a sag in the pipe, but rather a build-up of sediment that causes the sewage backups.

Referring to what Gangi-Johnson has been through as the "civil service shuffle," Mercer-Bruen said that though present DPW Supt. Vincent Ferlisi - who was appointed late last year - has been "very helpful," the problem needs to be solved.

"This is not something that is (Gangi-Johnson's) imagination," said Mercer-Bruen.

Remedies

David Elmer, of Weston & Sampson, said 3,000 feet of municipal sewer line had been cleared and examined with an underground camera during a survey that took place in June and three days in August.

There were "defects in the line" which will require about 20 feet of replacement pipe. Elmer also said the line appears to be hampered by tree roots, which need to be removed, and he advised a regular flushing and inspection program to ensure the pipes will remain clear.

"The line was completely plugged, and the roots have clearly gotten worse," said Elmer.

There were, however, found to be no significant sags in the line, which he said does not need to be replaced entirely.

"What level of comfort can you give homeowners on Maywood Terrace that we're OK now?" asked Mercer-Bruen.

Elmer replied that once the work is done in the spring and if the maintenance schedule is followed, the line should flow adequately.

"You can look at it every two weeks, and if it's OK, then you can extend the time," said Elmer.

Both Alderman at-large Paul Denaro and City Council President Charles Doherty agreed that whatever the problem is, the onus is on the city to repair it as quickly as possible.

"Somehow, let's fix it," said Doherty. "These problems have been going on since I worked for the city in the '80s. It was (lousy) then, and it's (lousy) now."

Doherty also regretted the city didn't act sooner to help the Gangis.

"They didn't ask the city to pay anything. Is that why they didn't get attention?" he said. "It's sad to see the city doesn't address this when it's the right thing to do."