The town is one step closer to being able to put the Devens water connection project out to bid. When it is complete, town water will be supplied by the Devens water system instead of by the two wells on Pond Road. The town voted to approve the project at Special Town Meeting in February 2023 after one Pond Road well was closed for coliform contamination, and both tested positive for PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances).
At a Feb. 8 hearing, the Devens Enterprise Commission, which acts as the permitting authority for Devens, voted to approve the permit for the section to be constructed on Devens land. That includes the water line extension as well as the pump station and associated site improvements.
The DEC also voted to approve a list of 18 conditions that must be met, which include ensuring emergency vehicle access to the site, lighting regulations, and stormwater, wetlands, and erosion control requirements.
Engineering firm Tighe & Bond submitted the necessary components to apply for the permit, including the design documents, a stormwater management plan, and a wetland Notice of Intent, which describes the measures that will be taken to protect wetlands, including limits on vegetation clearing and a 26-foot wetland buffer zone.
The Devens Soil Management Policy does not allow any excavated soil from Devens to leave without being screened and tested. According to Department of Public Works Director Tim Kilhart, that’s because the soil at Devens may contain unexploded ordnance. Just a few weeks ago, during development of a site near Jackson Road and Givry Street, an unexploded mortar shell was discovered and detonated by the state police bomb squad. Before any excavation begins on the Devens water connection site, all workers who will be present during excavation will be required to view an unexploded ordnance video, provided by the Devens Fire Department.
Earlier this week, Town Administrator Tim Bragan told the Press the town had just received the easement it needed from CSX, the rail-based transportation company that owns the land around the railroad tracks at the end of Depot Road. The water main that comes from the pumping station will need to be installed under those tracks, as will the electrical supply for the station.
One more step remains before the project goes to bid, the intermunicipal agreement between the town and MassDevelopment. That agreement will outline the terms of water usage, including rates and how water used to put out fires will be billed. Bragan said he expects all the outstanding issues in the agreement to be resolved in the next few weeks.Then it will be up to the Water and Sewer Commission and the Select Board to approve it.
The town filed a wetland Notice of Intent with the town’s Conservation Commission last winter to explain how it will handle the various wetland crossings along Depot Road. At a hearing Jan. 4, the commission voted unanimously to approve its standard conditions for the project, with no special conditions required.
Last fall, the town applied for a low-interest loan from the state to pay for the $4.85 million project, and Bragan said as soon as the intermunicipal agreement is approved by all the necessary parties, the loan will be granted. The project is expected to begin early this summer.
