Peabody councilors reject $950G bond for pond cleanup

PEABODY – After over a month of heated discussions, Peabody City Council voted 6-5 to deny the request for a $950,000 bond order to erase the mistake made by Public Service Director Dick Carnevale 10 years ago.Between 1997 and 2006, the city was denied permission to dispose of residual waste (dirt, iron, etc.) through the South Essex Sewerage District. Carnevale made the decision to pump all the waste into two onsite lagoons built with the ability to handle only half that amount. Naturally, they overflowed and the residual waste found its way into Lower Spring Pond.The State Department of Environmental Protection fined the city in the amount of $25,000 in 2006 when reports of the contamination arose. That amount was lowered to $6,000 after the city consented to cleaning the pond entirely by Oct. 1, 2008, or face a $1,000 a day fine until they do.Mayor Michael Bonfanti sent the bond order request for City Council’s approval, as the matter needed immediate attention because of the approaching deadline. However, councilors weren’t ready to hand over the $950,000 of “free cash” so easily, as some councilors felt that this was a mistake that could have and should have been avoided.Rico Mello started the conversation off Tuesday night by motioning to amend the order to $550,000 based on reports that the cleanup could effectively be taken care of at that amount.”I don’t buy into needing $950,000 for the project,” he told Councilors. Mello’s motion failed 6-5.Councilor Barry Osborne expressed his frustration with the other councilors whom in prior meetings, voted against approving the bond.”I can’t believe we’re not going to clean this up to make sure it does not happen again,” he said. Osborne would rather the council bond for the entire amount to ensure that everything is addressed and taken care of.”Let’s make sure we cover the entire process,” he said. “Let’s not shortchange ourselves. We never borrow with the intention of spending it all.””The city willfully polluted our drinking water,” said a furious Barry Sinewitz, clearly opposed to the bond request. He said he needed more details to how the money would be used and for how long the city would bond for.”I wish Patty Schaffer (Finance Director) was here, but of course, no one’s here to fill us in,” he said.Councilors Ted Bettencourt, Bob Driscoll, Mike Garabedian, Dave Gravel, Dave Gamache, and Barry Osborne agreed that it’s an unfortunate situation that must be fixed and voted to do so.Councilors James Liacos, Anne Manning, Arthur Athas, Barry Sinewitz, and Rico Mello voted in opposition.The matter now goes back to Bonfanti’s desk where he can either veto the Council’s decision, or create a new proposal for a different amount.