by Joan Eliyesil ·
Friday, September 6, 2024
No one is sure why, but the sewage pipes under the old library building, home to the community arts collaborative Fivesparks, are functioning again. The restrooms in the building have been reopened, and there are no further plans for investigation or repairs.
During the Fivesparks music festival in June, the bathrooms in the old library had to be closed when water from the sewage pipes started backing up into the building’s furnace room. An initial inspection with a camera showed no visible blockage, but the pipes under the building were filled with water and no water was getting through to the pump outside the building that sends waste into the sewage system.
Over the next few months, the town’s efforts to find a contractor willing to even come to the building to take a look were fruitless. New Town Administrator Dan Nason, whose first day on the job was Aug. 5, told the Press he was able to find a contractor from Holden that he had worked with in the past. On Aug. 23, the contractor met with Nason, Fivesparks Facilities Committee Chair Mark Mikitarian, and Jacob Gates Road resident Pete Jackson, who brought the old plans that showed the layout of the sewage pipes.
Nason said they covered the adjoining room’s floor with paper and drew a map of the pipes onto it. The contractor returned the following week with a camera, and it showed that the pipes were aged, but clear. Subsequent testing showed water moving freely throughout the entire system. Nason said there is no explanation for why water stopped flowing through the pipes back in June, or why it’s flowing again, but he’s hopeful the system will stay functional.
The test was useful, Nason said, because “we now know the dimensions, depths, and bends” of the pipes. He said the pipes under the restroom are only about 10 inches below the ground, but by the time they exit the building they’re about 6 feet deep. That knowledge will be helpful if the pipes ever require repairing or replacing in the future.
There is currently an article on the warrant for Sept. 28 Special Town Meeting requesting a Stabilization Fund transfer of an unspecified amount for repairs to the old library, intended to address the problem with the pipes. Nason said he was planning on recommending to the Select Board at its Sept. 4 meeting that the article remain in the warrant with an amount of $10,000 in case the problem returns.