Board Seeks A Financing Plan To Solve School Water Problems

By Larissa Lytwyn

Although the latest state Department of Health tests indicate that Head O’ Meadow and Middle Gate drinking wells are coliform-free, the school district’s Maintenance Director Dom Posca is concerned that the coliform will resurface. Consequently, the schools will remain on its current bottled water system.

“We were told by [state Department of Public Health Supervising Sanitary Engineer, Drinking Water Division] Steven Messer that the bottled water system can be used for up to three years,” said Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff. “However, that is at the extreme end. Keeping the bottled water system would be complying with the regular testing we have been doing and will continue to do.”

“Right now, I am talking to area [water] companies to consider putting in a chlorination system,” Mr Posca said. The chlorination system would cost approximately $10,000 to $12,000 to install and an additional $3,000 to $4,000 to maintain each year.

Mr Posca said, however, that a more economically viable solution would be to connect Middle Gate and later Head O’ Meadow School to the town waterline, located on Boggs Hill Road.

The cost to connect the Middle Gate waterline would be an estimated $500,000.

“The Middle Gate waterline was originally in the 2005–06 CIP [Capital Improvement Plan],” explained Finance Director Ben Spragg. “We were in the process of forming a loan with the state bonding commission when the school board [through a 20-year state loan at a 2.1 percent interest rate] wanted to do the project in 2003–04. The Legislative Council believed the $500,000 was too expensive and so [at its November 5 meeting] rejected it. Now it is slated for the 2004–05 CIP plan.”

“We were told [by the Legislative Council] that we had three different numbers three different times,” said Chairman Elaine McClure during the school board’s December 2 meeting. However, she said, the school board had been as consistent in its estimations as possible, considering that numbers fluctuate as years pass.

“We had offered [the council] our documentation on the issue but were told it wasn’t necessary because they wished the Board of Finance to present the information to them,” Ms McClure said.

Board of Finance Chairman John Kortze, who had voted among the minority when the Middle Gate proposal passed 3-2 through the Board of Finance, presented the proposal to Legislative Council members.

School board members were unable to attend the November 5 meeting due to a simultaneously occurring school board meeting.

“The longer you wait, the more expensive it becomes,” said board member Lisa Schwartz.

The Head O’ Meadow waterline will be in the CIP for 2009–10.

“I believe the Head O’ Meadow waterline is planned for later because it is less [geographically] accessible than Middle Gate,” said Ms Schwartz.

According to the Connecticut Department of Health, fecal coliform is a group of digestion-aiding bacteria found in the feces and intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals, including humans. Through the waste of its host, fecal coliform can enter freshwater supplies.

Fecal coliform strains include Escherichia Coli, better known as E.Coli, and Klebsiella. Large concentrations of coliform often indicate the presence of more potentially harmful bacterium and microorganisms.

In addition to having considerable concentrations of coliform in the past, Middle Gate water has also been treated for uranium and radon.

“I don’t know why the coliform keeps coming up,” said Mr Posca.

Health District Director Donna McCarthy said that it is difficult to determine when a person is sick from coliform. “The symptoms are very similar to flulike ones we often see during this time of year,” she said. “These symptoms include nausea and diarrhea, although rarely vomiting. What we look for in terms of coliform infection is a wide band of people infected at approximately the same time.”