BOS, FinCom approve emergency water main funds

The Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee have approved $350,000 in emergency funds to replace an aging water main on Rebecca Road, which has led to discolored water for 32 homes in the area for over 18 months. Rebecca Road is located off Pleasant Street and abuts Andrea Drive, Walford Park Drive, Trudy Terrace, and Moreau Street (which lies in Stoughton).

Selectmen Chairman John Connolly said the DPW tried several measures to solve the problem of discolored water, including flushing and adjusting the gate valves.

Connolly said the water main is over 60 years old and the new main is needed before the onset of winter. He thanked the residents for their patience and the FinCom for their cooperation.

Connolly said there is an emergency water fund allotment within the town budget, but it needs approval from town meeting. Rather than wait for the 2016 spring town meeting, selectmen will use reserve funds with approval from the FinCom and reimburse the reserve fund with the emergency water fund transfer from town meeting.

Connolly said bids will be received Friday and construction will begin as soon as possible.

In other news from Tuesday night’s meeting, selectmen began the process of renewing the cable license for Verizon and sought input from the town’s Cable Advisory Committee and Canton Community Television. Jim Sims, representing the Cable Advisory Committee, said he had two main concerns. One was the transition from retiring Town Administrator Bill Friel to a new town administrator and the other was the equipment needs of CCTV. Tanya Willow, the station’s general manager, said it would be very helpful for Verizon to provide funds for CCTV to go from an analog to a digital format, which would improve the technical quality of its programming. She said the studio at Canton High School is “very state of the art.”

“The internal elements are there, but we need tower improvements,” she said.

Connolly suggested that Louis Jutras, the town’s MIS director, and previous cable attorney Peter Epstein be on the negotiations committee until the new town administrator is selected. Verizon’s license expires on April 9, 2017. Residents have until October 13 to submit comments about Verizon to selectmen. Connolly noted that selectmen have no jurisdiction on Verizon programming or prices.

All of the selectmen commended CCTV for its quality community programming. “You are the face of Canton,” Connolly said. “We are very lucky to have you.”

Willow added that the town has a very good Verizon liaison in Jill Reddish, who has been communicating well with CCTV …

See this week’s Canton Citizen for more highlights from the September 28 selectmen’s meeting. Not a subscriber? Click here to order your subscription today ($25 for one year through October 31).

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Posted by Mike Berger on Oct 1 2015. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.