School Waterline Reviewed

By Larissa Lytwyn

Following a consent order issued by the state Department of Public Health November 4, School Buildings and Grounds Supervisor Dom Posca said that Head O’ Meadow Elementary School will have a chlorination system installed by the state’s deadline February 1.

Although Head O’ Meadow’s water supply has been coliform-free since November 21, the school has remained on bottled water because of the bacterium’s past reappearances after testing clear.

Head O’ Meadow and Middle Gate Elementary Schools are the only two of the district’s seven public schools not connected to the public water line.

During its December 9 meeting, the school board approved modifying the five-year Capital Improvement Plan prioritizing the $500,000 Middle Gate waterline proposal from 2005–06 to the 2004–05 school year.

Head O’ Meadow is not slated for inclusion in the Capital Improvement Plan for another six or seven years.

Mr Posca said that Middle Gate’s location makes it “ideal” for connection to public water. In contrast, he said, establishing a $14,000 chlorination system with $4,500 to $5,000 annual maintenance costs thereafter would be, overtime, fiscally exorbitant and physically difficult to fit into Middle Gate’s current system.

“We are already using up a lot of space treating wells for uranium and radon,” Mr Posca explained. Establishing an additional system might require the additional cost of digging a new well.

“The waterline is a one-time deal,” Mr Posca said. “I just don’t know where we will find the room if the town moves to have a chlorination system [instead].”

Legislative Council and the Board of Selectmen must approve the Middle Gate waterline before being put to a town vote.

During its December 17 meeting, Legislative Council moved the Middle Gate waterline item to its finance committee for further deliberation.