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08/27/2019 03:44 PMThe long-planned project to build a water main to the Mulberry Point, Tuttles Point, and Long Cove communities is approaching a milestone. Health Director Dennis Johnson said construction has progressed nicely since a late June start, and the new main be ready to hook up to its first houses in approximately a month.
A decade’s worth of planning, studying, and fund-seeking has finally come to fruition as the two-year old project begins to hit its first significant milestones.
First Selectman Matt Hoey said though he, Johnson, and others have long been working to get the main built, urgency grew in recent years as salt-water and septic contamination in private wells became more dire.
“You got seniors up there who were coming downtown and filling up their water bottles at the Fire Department,” said Hoey, “because they [didn’t] have enough potable water.”
A study showed that a water main extension was the most feasible and cost-effective way to get clean water to the communities, and town voters approved the project in a 2017 referendum.
The project has had its share of bumps and hiccups, particularly with funding. The referendum approved $3.4 million for pipeline construction in 2017. After a low bid contractor dropped out and the estimated cost of the project rose from $3.4 million to $6.5 million, Guilford residents approved a special appropriation for the $3.1 million difference in 2018.
While the referenda authorized town spending, Hoey emphasized that no taxpayer money is being used for any of the project; bonds, grants, and the affected property owners will cover all costs.
In January, the town signed a service agreement with the Connecticut Water Company (CWC) that outlined the financial rate of contribution from CWC. The rate of contribution from CWC is dependent upon the percentage of the 145 homeowners in the area who commit to the project. With an 83 percent commitment rate demonstrated by residents who sent the water company signed commitment letters and financial deposits, CWC will contribute $1.5 million.
Johnson said that the 83 percent commitment has grown to “90-plus” percent at this point.
Homeowners can either pay off their part of the assessment in one lump sum, or over 20 years at two percent interest, Hoey said.
Hoey said he is continuing to seek other funds to defray these costs, including from the federal government through the Environmental Protection Agency as well as a state bond program, which last year contributed $450,000 to the project.
The construction required to build the main is a tricky process, according to Johnson. Construction crews are currently traversing a vernal pool, and have also had to deal with protected wetlands and blasting through bedrock.
But Johnson said that all the legal and permit work was in fact, the more difficult part of the process.
“Just a lot of background work just in order to get permission to start installing the water main,” he said.
Construction will become somewhat more difficult when it reaches the neighborhoods proper, Johnson said. Crews will have to do surveys to prevent collateral damage to homes from blasting, and will be restricted as to the time of day or night they can work.
Lower Road will be the first public road the water main reaches, Johnson said. The contractor has a two year timeline to finish the entire project, according to Hoey.