Last modified: Monday, April 23, 2007 7:07 AM EDT Kraft, Foxboro talk trade By sun chronicle staff The New England Patriots have been known to swing a deal to make themselves better on the football field. Now, the Kraft Group, owners of the National Football League team and Gillette Stadium, are hoping to swing a deal with the town of Foxboro to pave the way for Patriots Place, the major commercial development planned near the Route 1 stadium. Key to the deal would be that the Kraft Group would expand and turn over a sewage treatment plant to the town, helping Foxboro in its goal to expand sewer service to more of the community. The deal will likely be presented to voters at a special town meeting, possibly as early as June 4, town officials said. The plan has some supporters among selectmen and water and sewer commissioners but the early reaction by the advisory committee - which must supply a recommendation to voters at town meeting - was mixed at a recent meeting. "I am very confused by all of this," advisory member Lee Estabrook said after nearly three hours of discussion. "I can't get my hands around this project, and I suspect there are many townspeople who can't either." Under a scenario explained recently to town officials by town counsel Richard Gelerman, the Kraft Group would expand the existing treatment facility at a cost of $7.5 million before turning it over to the town. The expanded plant would have Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place as primary customers, while allowing Foxboro to extend wastewater treatment to areas of town currently unserved by municipal sewer. The expanded plant also would have sufficient capacity to serve Route 1 properties recently acquired by the Krafts, Gelerman said. Beyond that $7.5 million outlay by the Patriots, the negotiations incorporate future non-tax payments to the town - such as building and inspection fees estimated at $3.8 million and impact fees totaling $2.8 million which the Krafts recently agreed to pay over a 12-year period. Additionally, the Patriot Place project is projected to generate in excess of $2 million annually in property tax revenue when completed. For its part, the Kraft organization is seeking a portion of future advertising royalties from the town-owned water tower opposite Gillette Stadium on Route 1 - and additionally to avoid the responsibility of operating the treatment plant. "I look at it as there would be something coming to the town and something coming to the Patriots," said Philip Henderson, chairman of the town's board of water and sewer commisioners. But local voters also would have to take a leap of faith by embracing a townwide sewer expansion program originally outlined in a five-year study of Foxboro's wastewater needs. The price tag for that program, which would extend municipal sewer to commercial and residential areas throughout Foxboro, was projected to exceed $50 million (in 2004 dollars) over a phased, 20-year construction. While total costs would be spread over an extended period, taxpayers would be asked to approve an up-front sum - currently estimated at $5 million - to install the main connectors, pump stations and other necessary infrastructure from Chestnut Street to the stadium property. This would be in advance of any neighborhood infrastructure needed to serve affected areas of town. Without a treatment plant of its own, Foxboro contracts with Mansfield to pipe a limited amount of sewage to a regional plant on the Norton town line. This lack of local treatment capacity has long been identified as a key obstacle to attracting business development, particularly in the downtown area. Selectmen Robert Hickey, Michael Stanton and James Thrasher echoed this position recently. "The lifeblood of any commercial development is the ability to deliver water and take out sewer," Thrasher said. "That's especially true for downtown. The cost of sewer is coming one way or another." In addition to installing necessary piping and connections throughout town, the $50 million cost projection includes one of three options for treatment: partner with Mansfield in an expansion of the regional plant, build a Foxboro-only plant on Elm Street, or assume ownership of the Patriots' plant. Planning board Chairman Kevin Weinfeld characterized the latter option as superior, arguing it would cost less and also provide an alternative under the town's control. "Do we get a better value by letting the private sector build it for us or letting the town get pushed into a deal with a community that hasn't given us any consideration for the past 30 years?" Weinfeld asked rhetorically, referring to the long-standing relationship with Mansfield. Both Henderson and fellow commissioner William Euerle stressed that property owners would be required to connect to the sewer system as it was extended to their respective neighborhoods. Mandatory participation is necessary because sewer rates are set by spreading operating costs among the total user pool, Euerle said; the greater the number of users, the lower the rates - and vice versa. "The big picture is that we're only doing a small piece of a big project here," Euerle told advisory board members. "If we don't move forward we'll never be able to get sewer in town." Complicating matters further are separate talks between the Krafts and developers of the Chestnut Green project at the former Foxboro State Hospital. Rather than construct a small, on-site treatment plant, the Chestnut Green developers would rather utilize the stadium facility, Gelerman said last week. If the town is prepared to move forward with a stadium sewer deal immediately, the developers have agreed to contribute $1.5 million to help build the connecting infrastructure to Route 1. Otherwise, they will proceed with on-site solutions, Gelerman added. Selectmen already have placed a measure on the May 14 annual town meeting warrant to ratify a home rule petition asking the state Legislature for 12 additional liquor licenses, to be issued primarily to new establishments at Patriot Place. If approved, the Patriots will pay the town impact fees totaling $2.8 million over a 12-year period - a sum negotiated on the basis of the market value ($80,000 apiece) of the liquor licenses. But in a separate interview this week, Hickey stressed the liquor license petition will be acted upon only if a sewer agreement is finalized with the Kraft organization in advance of the May 14 town meeting. "The advisory committee needs to be able to review the proposal thoroughly," he said, adding that an 11th-hour accord would be unacceptable.