LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield Center Water District (LCWD) board updated the town on its capital project at its last meeting of 2021.
The project looks to address chronic water-supply and water-quality issues. One of the key components of the project is building a connection between Wakefield’s water supply that will allow LCWD to connect with the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), which will add up to 250 gallons of water per minute to the town’s system.
A concrete vault would be constructed underground on Main Street and Bay State Road. This vault would meter and monitor water quality.
Mike Nelson, a project engineer from CDM Smith, said that the interconnection is currently in the design process. Nelson added that the need for the connection has risen in recent years, as Lynnfield has struggled to meet the water demands of the town.
Some items have already been marked off of the checklist in regards to the project. Soil borings were conducted on Nov. 24 while the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) permit process began on Dec. 6.
The soil borings are conducted to ensure that rock will not be hit when construction begins. Wakefield also needs to make some improvements to their system prior to the connection, and Lynnfield will have the final plan for the improvements by the end of this week, according to the board. The board added that Wakefield will make its MassDOT submission on Jan. 6.
Still, there is plenty that needs to be done. Bid documents need to be developed by the spring of 2022 with construction set to begin in the summer or fall of 2022, according to Nelson.
But that doesn’t mean that water will be flowing through Lynnfield once that is done. There are still some actions that need to be taken.
“We cannot turn it on for everyday water as an additional source of water to the district until the Interfacing Transfer Act (ITA) has been approved and we have officially been accepted (by) the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA),” said Nelson.
The LCWD is looking at the potential of getting funding for the project from the American Rescue Plan Act, the Water Management Act Grant, and infrastructure funding that is pending at the federal level. These funds would be on top of the money that was already set aside and voted on for the capital project at Town Meeting.
“The district is desperately pursuing multiple grants to try to pay for the design and construction of this vault,” said Nelson. “Every grant opportunity that is available will be pursued.”
