LEVERETT — A project to repair the dam at Leverett Pond could be getting $100,000 from the $41.9 billion budget adopted by a House and Senate conference committee this week.
The money, if retained in the final budget, would be a major boost toward an estimated $300,000 cost of designing, permitting and reconstructing the deteriorating dam at the northern end of the 102-acre pond, and beginning the work sometime in 2019.
Friends of Leverett Pond President Tom Hankinson said the group appreciates that state legislators allocated the funding.
“As organization president and also a member of the Leverett Select Board, it pleases me to see nonprofits successful in raising money for projects that are positive for the community and region,” Hankinson said.
Hankinson added that the group has been working hard for many years to save Leverett Pond, and this puts it closer than ever before to achieving this goal.
A capital campaign has already raised over $100,000 through community donations and fundraisers that have included an art auction, a wine tasting and a weekly coffee shed at the Leverett Transfer Station. A benefit concert is planned for later this summer.
The group also intends to seek Community Preservation Act funding from the town.
The Friends group worked with State Rep. Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington and former Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, informing them that if the dam fails, the pond would shrink to about one-third its current size.
Permitting has already been completed for building an access road to the dam, and additional permitting is need for the dam construction.
In addition to its deteriorating condition, the dam doesn’t have a functioning control valve that would permit periodic drawdowns of the pond’s water level to better control invasive weeds on portions of the lake. Instead, the group has turned to an Integrated Pest Management approach to control the infestation.
Because of the support from residents, the Friends group gave the Leverett Fire Department a TurboDraft water pump that can be attached to fire engines and function at any locations in town within 100 feet of a water source that is 4 to 8 inches deep.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
