Published: 10/24/2022 10:54:25 AM
Modified: 10/24/2022 10:54:14 AM
WENDELL — The article likely to be most substantial on the upcoming Special Town Meeting warrant pertains to transferring money from the stabilization fund to rid Swift River School’s water of some forever chemicals.
Voters at Town Hall on Wednesday will be asked if they agree to appropriate $50,000 to pay for PFAS6 remediation at the New Salem school that serves students from that town and Wendell. The meeting starts at 7 p.m.
The state Department of Environmental Protection last year ordered the school to remove from its water the set of six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances used in common consumer products like food packaging and outdoor clothing. The contaminants — also found in carpets, soaps, detergents and anything containing a fire retardant — are the result of groundwater seeping into the well under the school. Tests of the school’s tap water in the fall of 2020 revealed elevated PFAS6 levels, though no state drinking water regulations have been violated.
The Wendell and New Salem selectboards voted last week to accept the engineering firm Tighe & Bond’s bid to assist in the final design of the remediation work as well as with all permitting, bidding assistance and construction phase services.
Both boards opted to accept Tighe & Bond’s $49,200 bid, which will be split between the two towns. This bid does not include the remediation work itself.
Wendell Selectboard Chair Laurie DiDonato said adoption of this fifth article on the Special Town Meeting warrant would appropriate $50,000 that could be put toward costs not covered by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money controlled by New Salem for use at Swift River School. She said New Salem received $40,000 and about $25,000 of it has been spent to have Tighe & Bond conduct alternative analysis — the evaluation of various choices available to achieve an objective — and camera work in the well.
Most of the Special Town Meeting warrant articles pertain to paying municipal bills from a prior year. One entails amending the language of Wendell’s zoning bylaws.
The full warrant can be viewed at bit.ly/3TSDUyD.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.