HATFIELD — Voters here will have the final say next week on whether the town should raise $740,000 for the second phase of a multiyear project to upgrade the town’s water main system.
At Hatfield’s annual Town Meeting in May, voters gave first-round approval to extend new piping from Chestnut Street to Gore Avenue.
The project now heads to the June 27 town election ballot, where voters will decide on a Proposition 2½ debt exclusion override to pay for the project. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Memorial Town Hall, 59 Main St.
The impact of the override in property taxes would be about $45 per year extra for a home valued at $300,000.
“This is the most important project that I think they (voters) could pass right now,” said Hatfield Director of Public Works Phil Genovese.
He said the system’s old lines are made of dated concrete material and are obsolete. The new 16-inch main line will be made of ductile iron, Genovese said.
The first phase of the water main project started with town appropriations in 2011 and 2012 — along with state aid — to extend the water main from the reservoir, down Rocks Road to West Street, under Interstate 91 and the railroad tracks.
Genovese said the second phase will extend over the Mill River via a suspension bridge and end at Gore Avenue. He said the water main currently runs under the Mill River, but as it stands, piping is exposed and vulnerable to a breach.
“It’s supposed to be under it but right now you can see it,” Genovese said.
The area surrounding the Mill River is the most difficult because of the river and surrounding wetlands, Genovese said. He added the project’s completion would allieviate concerns of a breach.
He said the project’s needed permits are approved and the second round of construction would be put to bid soon after voter approval. Genovese said the project would take about a year to complete.
To complete the main line, Genovese said the town will eventually have to approve a third phase of construction, extending the piping from Gore Avenue to the center of town.
Jack Suntrup can be reached at jsuntrup@gazettenet.com.