Contrary to previous estimates, crews will not finish work until mid-July on the treatment plant that will handle waste from Harvard’s new town center sewer system.
Members of the building team overseeing its construction learned of the schedule change this week at their regular Wednesday morning meeting. The new date was not unexpected, although when asked last week by Town Administrator Tim Bragan whether he would still be working on July 4, Ricciardi Brothers project manager Ron Ferraluolo had answered, “No.”
The new system, which consists of an upgraded wastewater plant and a network of collection pipes and pumps, was approved three years ago at Annual Town Meeting. It will serve more than 70 homes, businesses, churches, and municipal buildings in the center of town, including the schools. At the time, engineers estimated its cost to be $2 million, but after the state Department of Environmental Protection delayed approval of the plant and insisted on further modifications to its design, voters were asked at a Special Town Meeting last fall to authorize another $500,000 to cover added costs.
The total cost of more than $2.5 million will be funded by a 2 percent loan from a state revolving fund managed by the DEP, whose terms stipulate that the work be done by June 30.
Apparently, however, the agency is willing to be flexible. At the sewer team meeting this week, the plant’s engineering project manager, Wayne Perry of Norfolk Ram, told the group that an official at the DEP had said, “If [the plant delay] is not a problem for Harvard, it’s not a problem for the DEP.”
“Be sure to get that in writing,” remarked Town Administrator Bragan.
Work on the system continues. The prefabricated building that will house controls for the new plant was to have arrived Thursday and most of the other components for the plant have arrived on site.
Ricciardi crews continue to lay pipes for the new sewer main on Elm Street, though a broken hydraulic hammer and heavy rains have delayed progress there. Project manager Ferraluolo said he hoped to be finished with Elm Street by Friday and with the entire collection system, including testing, by the end of June.
Though their work is only indirectly related to the sewer project, Ricciardi crews hope to finish laying the new water main pipes that will service properties on Ayer Road by Memorial Day. That job must be completed before the Ayer Road portion of the new sewer lines can be laid.
Department of Public Works director Rich Nota complained again this week that unpaved “test digs” on Ayer Road and open trenches on Elm Street and elsewhere were creating traffic hazards whenever heavy rains wash them out. He asked that crews check and fix holes twice a day.
