WHATELY — Voters gave their blessing to amending by $30,000 the amount appropriated for the construction and installation of a manganese removal system for the town’s water supply, agreeing to the increase during a three-minute special town meeting on Wednesday.
The handful of people that showed up to the Whately Town Offices voted unanimously to borrow $440,000 from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection for the removal system, amending a July 2016 vote to appropriate $410,000. The article, recommended by the Whately Water Commissioners and the town Selectboard, required a two-thirds majority to be adopted.
Town Administrator Brian Domina said the town will now have to amend its funding agreement with MassDEP. He said the money is being borrowed at 2 percent interest.
Manganese is a black, brittle, metallic element. Domina said the manganese level in the town’s water supply has remained consistent, though in 2014 the state tightened the standards for how much of it is acceptable, to 0.30 milligrams per liter. Test results taken from Whately’s two wells in April and June 2014 registered between 0.34 and 0.35 milligrams, and the town fell out of compliance as a result.
No company has yet been hired for the construction and installation, though Domina said Dankris Builders Corp. in Plainville was the only company to submit a bid. Dankris would the project’s general contractor and the removal system has been designed by an engineer at Berkshire Engineering in Lee.
According to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, manganese is an essential nutrient in small amounts. However, too much of it can lead to nervous system problems and other health issues. Also, studies in children have suggested “extremely high levels of manganese exposure may produce undesirable effects on brain development, including changes in behavior and decreases in the ability to learn and remember.”
Voters also agreed to repurpose $4,792 in unspent money appropriated at the annual Town Meeting in April for roofing work at the town highway garage on Christian Lane. Domina previously said $25,000 was appropriated, but the work cost just more than $20,000. He explained the difference will be spent on masonry repairs and a new coat of paint to the concrete block building.