Orleans Board of Health Sets One-Year Deadline for Phase Two Sewer Connections

ORLEANS -- March 5, 2026, Orleans Board of Health approves one-year deadline for roughly 370 phase two sewer connections, with letters expected around April 2. The three-member board, Vice Chair John Smith, Ace Nadeau, and Asa, voted 3-0 Thursday to approve the Board of Health Order to Connect to Municipal Sewer letter with a 12-month compliance period, rejecting a possible 24-month alternative after health department staff argued the longer window would not meaningfully increase compliance. "If you extend it to 24 months, I'm going to hear from people in 20, 22 months, what do I do?" said John, the department's sewer connection liaison, who noted 50 to 75 engineering plans for phase two properties are already approved and some neighborhoods have pre-arranged a shared contractor. The board also continued show cause hearings for 8 Old Tote Road to April 16 and 34 Route 6A to April 2, and granted a deferral extension to 7 Brewster Cross Road, the Home Port property, to October 1, after owner representative Brian Junkins explained he had extended a restaurant tenant's lease through the 2026 season, putting a planned development project on hold and complicating the sewer connection timeline.