(Editor's note: this version corrects the number of directors that serve the Sound View Beach Association.)

Old Lyme — Faced with a request for sewers from one beach community under its jurisdiction and some resistance from another, the Water Pollution Control Authority decided Tuesday to delay submitting a component of a wastewater management study to allow more time for discussion.

A director of the Sound View Beach Association had written to the WPCA last month in support of connecting the Sound View neighborhood to sewers. 

Meanwhile, the WPCA also discussed Tuesday that there has been resistance to the potential sewer project from some residents in the Hawk's Nest community.

First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder is expected to discuss the situation with the selectmen, Board of Finance and state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, before the consultants will submit a final environmental impact evaluation, one of the last steps of the town's wastewater management plan, to the DEEP.

The town is under a state order to complete a wastewater management plan for parts of the shoreline area.

In its draft form, the plan encompasses the areas of Sound View, Hawk's Nest, Miami Beach, Old Colony Beach and Old Lyme Shores.

At the same time, the three of those neighborhoods that are private beach associations — Miami Beach, Old Colony Beach and Old Lyme Shores — are pursuing their own plans to connect to sewers.

The DEEP is accepting comments on their environmental impact evaluation, published on DEEP's website, until Nov. 20.

Robert V. Breen, one of six directors of the Sound View Beach Association, said in his letter to the WPCA that it would be prudent for Sound View to join the three neighboring beach communities in their plans to connect to sewers by 2018, especially since the proposal calls for transmission lines that will intersect avenues in the Sound View neighborhood.

But the neighborhood needs the WPCA's help, since it falls under its jurisdiction, unlike the three private associations. 

"...Whatever the eventual cost of installing wastewater transmission lines in Sound View Beach, it will never be less than it would be while those lines are under construction," Breen wrote in the Oct. 9 letter. "Regardless of opposition to the wastewater transmission project from beach communities father to the west, it is in the best interest of Sound View Beach for the Town of Old Lyme to coordinate with Miami, Old Colony and Old Lyme Shores beaches in construction of wastewater treatment lines in Sound View Beach at the same time."

Meanwhile, a consultant for the Garvin family in Hawk's Nest previously has said he has data that challenges the need for sewers in Hawk's Nest.

Some WPCA members discussed on Tuesday whether or not it would be possible to remove Hawk's Nest from the study area, but others said that the WPCA should see through the process of the study as is.

The WPCA's consultants and attorney said that once the final environmental impact evaluation is submitted to the DEEP, it would be too late to make any revisions.

The environmental impact evaluation is a component of projects that receive Clean Water Funds and includes a period for public comment, said consultant Jay Sheehan of Woodard & Curran.

WPCA Chairman Kurt Zemba read aloud correspondence from DEEP that says the town currently is in compliance with the state order.

The WPCA will pick up the discussion at its next meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 8 at Town Hall.

k.drelich@theday.com

Twitter: @KimberlyDrelich