Abutter’s offer moves water tank design along

The Select Board voted to move the Paines Hill water tank access road on Feb. 11 after several months of discussion and an abutter’s donation offer.

A temporary road, including temporary water and electric utilities, will be built north of the existing water tank during construction of a new tank. After the old one is torn down, a new road will be built cutting through the site of the original tank. This plan will add two months of construction to the project and will cost about $497,000, according to Robert Williamson, a project manager at Wright-Pierce.

Before the vote, abutter Tom Seeman announced that he and his wife, Jenny Seeman, would pay up to half of the additional costs, up to a maximum of $250,000.

“We see this as sort of a private-public partnership,” he said. “We would like to propose that we pay for some of this.”

The Select Board voted 2-1 in favor of the plan, contingent on the donation from the Seeman family.

• Read more about the water tanks: Paines Hill water tank access road design moved, Water Tank design updates delayed, Water tank replacement project progressing.

The location of the access road has been a sticking point in discussions about the water tank project for several months. Early plans had the road going down the center of the parcel, but an update from Wright-Pierce, the engineering firm designing the project, moved the access driveway to the north based on cost and concerns from the Department of Public Works. The newest design moves the road back to the middle of the land.

Abutters took issue with moving the road to the north because it would be closer to their homes, and in December they voiced concerns about sight lines. After hearing those concerns, the Select Board voted 2-1 against putting the road to the north of the tanks.

Before the Feb. 11 meeting, Wright-Pierce met with the abutters and the DPW to come up with a plan that would satisfy all parties. The firm presented the plan to the Water Tank Working Group last Wednesday.

Select Board member Tom Palmer was the lone vote against the plan. He said the cost was not worth the impact these changes would have.

“I’m very appreciative of the Seemans’ offer for $250,000, but that still leaves the town on the hook for $250,000,” he said. “We’ve got to do what’s in the best interest for the town cost effectively.”

Lise Revers voted in favor of the plan.

“If the Seemans are willing to contribute up to $250,000 to provide the solution for all abutters, which they’ve all agreed to, I’m in favor of moving forward in this manner,” she said.

The water tank vote was the second infrastructure project discussed by the Select Board last week. A day earlier, the Select Board voted against putting Concord Road improvements on the warrant for Town Meeting. Revers voted against the idea because of the cost of the project.

“I think the water tank project is a separate issue,” she said in an interview. “In terms of prioritizing projects, I don’t think you can compare the water tank project with the road project. The town wants to move forward with the water tank project, but the road is something that can be repaired next year or the year after that… The water tanks have to move forward now and we need to come up with solutions and compromises, and move forward as quickly as we can.”

John McDonald also voted in favor of the plan. While at the Nov. 19 meeting, he said he would be unlikely to support Wright-Pierce spending $25,000 to evaluate moving the road. In an interview, McDonald said he decided to vote in favor of the project on Feb. 11 because it felt like the fairest option for the abutters who believed the road was going to cut through the center of the area.

“For fairness and equity reasons, that’s why I voted. If it had been proposed for the first time, I probably would have voted differently,” McDonald told the Observer. “I didn’t think it was right to change plans … I think it’s a good compromise.”