WILTON – A public hearing will be held Tuesday, Nov. 16, to discuss borrowing funds for a water main project, officials decided Tuesday. The hearing will be held during the regular selectmen’s meeting.
Town Manager Peter Nielsen said a resident on Bennett Street called the town last November to report that he had tried to clean his well with bleach, but it remained impure. In January the town’s water department tested 12 wells on Thompson and Bennett streets, and eight of them contained bacteria such as coliform and E. Coli, as well as nitrates.
Water and Sewer Department Superintendent Russ Mathers said the problem comes from the fact that this is a wetland area with a high water table. He said septic waste stays in the aquifer and is transported into the wells. While the property owners could drill wells deeper to avoid the problem, this would be a significant cost to them.
At their annual town meeting this past summer, officials asked voters to authorize the town to pursue an Urgent Needs Grant to extend the town’s water main to those homes. But in August, officials refused the approved $45,000 grant to partially fund the project because that amount was only about half of what was needed.
Now the town plans to apply for a Community Development Block Grant. Nielsen said the grant requires 25 percent local matching funds. The grant application deadline is Dec. 10. He said any funds borrowed or taken from water department funds can be recouped through the water rate fees the homeowners will pay the town in the future.
Nielsen said officials voted in 1999 not to invest town funds in extending water mains to people’s homes. Now the town will decide where any needed funds will come from.
“It’s not like someone is coming in to take advantage of the system. These residents are already there. This is kind of a unique situation,” Mathers said.
“We’ve got to get water to these residents some how,” Selectmen Rodney Hall said.
Mathers said there has been a $13,590 reduction in the cost of parts over his original estimate because one homeowner there doesn’t want town water. He now estimates $31,685 in parts. Mathers pointed out that he has yet to determine how much it will cost for ledge removal.
Nielsen said the grant is a competitive one, and while he feels the town has a good chance of obtaining the grant, there is no guarantee the town will be approved to receive the state funds.
In other business, officials met behind closed doors to discuss matters relating to the performance of the Wilton Police Department.
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