Water and sewer projects to drive Town Meeting

Items seeking funding and authorization for components of significant water and sewer projects dominate the 20-article warrant for Special Town Meeting Saturday.

The highest ticket item seeks to authorize the Water Department to borrow up to $17 million, to be paid by water rates, as the next step in solving the town’s per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) problem that came to light last year.

Combined with the $13 million in borrowing previously authorized by Town Meeting, Littleton plans to use the funding to build a water treatment facility to remove PFAS, iron, manganese and other impurities from the town’s water supply at a Whitcomb Avenue site across the street from wells that provide 45% of the town’s public drinking water. The proposed plant would treat water from both the Whitcomb Avenue and Spectacle Pond water sources.

Town Meeting will also be asked to amend votes taken in October last year and May 2018 for the borrowing authorizations totaling $13 million to allow the Water Department to borrow the money through the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust, which would make it eligible for a 0% interest rate.

In a related article, the town seeks authorization to petition the Legislature for passage of a special law to allow the town to designate the Whitcomb Avenue parcel as Water Department land to be used for the construction of the facility.

Another significant funding item on the warrant seeks to authorize the Sewer Division to borrow up to $2.5 million for the engineering, design, and construction of the Littleton Common Smart Sewer, to be paid by sewer rates and through a $1.5 million Massworks grant. The project includes a 175,000-gallon-per-day sewer discharge site at Littleton High.

“It’s something the town has been working on for a number of years to plan for residential and commercial growth in a more smart and futureoriented manner so that we can guide development where we want it in the common area and support development near the commuter rail station,” Interim Town Administrator Joseph Laydon said.

“Smart sewering” involves processing wastewater in a manner that recycles it into clean water that is returned to the local water table, along with heat, electricity and fertilizers.

A related article seeks to authorize a home rule petition to the Legislature to establish the Littleton Common Smart Sewer District. Town Meeting authorized the Select Board to undertake such a petition last fall, however, it may expire if the Legislature does not act on it by the end of the current