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DPW Director John Haines shows the voters
at Town Meeting a pipe caked with iron and manganese
deposits.
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Town
approves water project
By Justin Graeber, Editor - Xpress
EAST BRIDGEWATER — After some spirited debate, East Bridgewater's
Town Meeting voted to begin a $14 million water project
that includes main replacement and two filtration plants.
The project involves a low-interest loan (two percent)
from the State Revolving Fund, with the only catch being
that the state needed a commitment from the taxpayers
(i.e. a Town Meeting vote) by the beginning of the summer.
The revolving fund money meant that the wording of the
article was very long and legally specific. DPW Director
John Haines even lost his place a couple of times while
reading.
Mark Devine from the firm Coler and Colantonio reprised
a presentation he had given to the Selectmen some months
earlier. His firm did the comprehensive study of East
Bridgewater's water-related infrastructure.
"Last town meeting we agreed to wait to proceed with this
project ... until this report had been completed," said
Haines.
Devine showed charts projecting the maximum day demand
for water out to 2025. The town will exceed its current
pumping capacity in 2018. He said the town shouldn't have
a problem meeting the demand, but ...
"What you don't have is consistent and good quality water,"
he said.
He showed a colorful map that showed the water mains in
town -- over 100 miles of pipe -- and when they have been
installed. The oldest mains were shown in red, and like
the old eye drops commercial, Devine said East Bridgewater
needs to "get the red out."
He outlined three phases of replacement and well upgrades
that would take the town through 2025.
"If you treat the water you're also replacing the distribution
system to ensure that that clean water gets to you," he
explained.
Some residents were concerned their neighborhoods had
the oldest pipe but weren't part of the replacement plan.
Haines explained that the DPW would be doing some of the
work on smaller streets in-house.
Haines pulled out a section of pipe to show the iron and
manganese deposits that have built up over the years --
sometimes cutting the carrying capacity of the pipe in
half.
He said the town was looking into using either a different
kind of metal pipe or PVC plastic for the replaced mains.
The town will also not be digging up the old mains due
to cost.
"This is part of a bigger plan for the town. We have every
intention of following through with it," he said. "I truly
believe in this project."
He also stressed the urgency of the project. "If we do
not support this article now, this project will not go
away," he said. "I hope this community has the foresight
to invest in the future."
Some residents, however, wanted to see the main replacement
done before the plants.
"I don't like it when two projects are put together. I
want to see the pipes in the ground before we even think
of filtration," said Forest Damon.
Forest Emery proposed an amendment to the article that
would have inserted language stating that the materials
for the pipes had to be made in America. Town Moderator
Robert Looney expressed concern that the language had
to be so specifically drafted as to guarantee the state
funding. Town Counsel suggested a change to Emery's amendment
that would have made it legal, but Emery refused to make
any change. The amendment was defeated, but engineers
from Stantec, who will be overseeing the replacement,
said all their suppliers use American parts.
"If Mr. Haines understood tonight that it was the wish
of Town Meeting that the pipes be bought in this country
and this amendment were to fail, I would dare say that
the pipes bought would be manufactured in this country,"
added Fire Chief Ryon Pratt.
Pratt also spoke on the issue from the point of view of
fire protection. Some of the water main problems in town
make it difficult to get adequate fire pressure to fight
fires. "The number of water main breaks in this town are
astounding," he said. He urged passage of the measure
in the "strongest possible terms."
"Before I came here tonight I looked at my kids and asked
myself a simple question: am I going to pay for this or
are they going to pay for it," Pratt said. "Because someone's
going to pay for it."
Former water commissioners Howard Wilbur and Melissa Schrader
got up and endorsed the plan, saying it was long overdue.
"It's not like we're breaking new ground here," said Schrader.
The article, being a bond, needed a 2/3 majority to pass.
Looney originally asked for a hand count, but when he
saw few hands raised in opposition he ruled the measure
passed. |