To the editor:

It is interesting that Mr. Levesque’s letter in the Times of Nov. 14 (“There was good reason for my legislation on sewers”) in response to my letter to the editor of Nov. 7 does not mention the financial hardship that sewers in Portsmouth would cause, especially in a moderate-income section of town. 

He does mention the Town Council members who drank the wrong Kool-Aid and were duped in to supporting sewers. Most of them would later see the light. Some of them would publicly acknowledge their mistake. As a lawyer, one would think that Mr. Levesque would have questioned the legality of DEM trying to force sewers down the town’s throat. 

Full disclosure: I was a member of the Waste Water Advisory Committee and the Waste Water Commission. I also encouraged Town Council members Staven and Pedro to interview attorney Petros in this matter, which they did. Result: The Town Council hired attorney Petros who advised the Town Council that DEM could not force sewers on Portsmouth residents. The town and its residents prevailed at the DEM hearing under the able presentation of attorney Petros. 

As a member of the aforementioned bodies, at no time were we presented with any information that DEM was threatening to “shut down any number of home in Portsmouth Park, Island Park or Valhalla.” In fact, we were presented with evidence that the waters surrounding Island Park were suitable for shellfishing but closed because of some alleged threat.

It is further interesting to note that an Island Park resident and attorney denounced the effort as a program to provide economic development on the backs of the people of Island Park.

Philip Driscoll

Portsmouth