Prattling Before the Pratfall

Thanks to the intervention of my employer, the closing went through for the purchase of my present house, with only one more snag in the process. The lawyer had to fix a problem he found with the original filing of the deed in land court. It was in my favor, adding a nice chunk of woods to the back of the property. I own it up to that distant stonewall. That stream is dry during most of the year.

Now, about the sale of my first house. As I explained before, my septic system had failed, but I’d been told the street was on the town’s schedule for a sewer line extension. We spent the next year keeping our water usage low and the septic tank pumped out.

I was relieved to receive a bill from the town for an $800 betterment fee (equivalent to $1600 today), because that made it official. Hooray! Every property owner who was eligible for a sewer hookup had to pay the fee, whether or not they chose to connect.

I attended a town meeting about the sewer project, where people complained about having to pay the one-time fee, regardless of their need or interest in not needing Rid-X. Having a flashback to the many city council and school committee meetings I’d attended as a radio reporter, I stood up and did what I couldn’t do as a reporter. I stated an opinion.

“The sewer is good for our property values. My septic system has failed, and connecting to the sewer will cost a tenth of what it would be to replace it. Many houses in town with septic systems date back to the Fifties. Eventually, they’ll all fail. $800 may be a lot of money to pay all at once, but they said you can pay $200 quarterly, with your property tax bills. We need to do this.”

It was my George Bailey moment.

What I didn’t say was that we were selling and leaving! Longtime friends who lived in town called to say they saw my little speech on cable TV. My friends were comfortable living there, but we weren’t a good fit.