Preparations for the Annual Town Meeting on April 27th continue at Manchester Town Hall. In addition to the zoning articles previously discussed and the FY27 operating budget, there are several capital improvement projects that are needed in Manchester-by-the-Sea.
Over the next few weeks, we will break down each of these important projects in detail. Additionally, the Finance Committee meetings being held publicly every Thursday night and the Town Administrator Public Informational Session in April are valuable sources of information.
In Massachusetts, a capital project is a major, nonrecurring, high-cost investment that creates or improves long-term tangible assets (e.g., buildings, infrastructure, equipment) with a useful life of five or more years. These projects often involve planning, design, or construction, and are frequently funded by municipal borrowing (bonds) or budget appropriations. (Source: mass.gov)
One capital project that residents will vote on at Town Meeting is the Lincoln Street Well PFAS Facility. PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or otherwise referred to as forever chemicals. Manufacturing of certain PFAS was discontinued in the U.S. decades ago but may still be used in imported products. PFAS are resilient and slow to degrade. As a result, they are widely found in the environment as products are disposed of and PFAS leaches into the soil and water, finding its way to food and drinking water sources. Scientific studies conclude that exposure to PFAS presents possible health risks in humans.
Over the past several years there has been a combined state and national effort to remove these potentially harmful chemicals from drinking water.
The History
2021 – The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued drinking water regulations to limit PFAS levels to 20 parts per trillion (ppt). In response, the Town began monthly PFAS monitoring at the Lincoln Street Well and Gravelly Pond. The monitoring showed that the Lincoln Street Well PFAS levels ranged from 7 to 20 ppt while Gravely Pond levels ranged from 2-7 ppt.
2023 – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed National Drinking Water Standards and reduced the PFAS limit to 4 ppt putting both of Manchester’s public water resources, Lincoln Street Well and Gravelly Pond, above the new standard. The 2023 EPA standards required compliance by 2029.
2024 – The DEP adopted the EPA’s new drinking water standards and set a compliance deadline of 2029 for municipalities.
2025 - The EPA extended compliance deadlines by two years, until 2031.
Lincoln Street Well Facility
The Town’s PFAS test results identified the Lincoln Street Well as a priority for remediation. The Lincoln Street Well provides, on average, 40% of the Towns drinking water annually and Gravelly Pond provides the remaining 60%.
In 2022, the Town utilized American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to hire consultant CDM Smith, to begin studying and piloting treatment options and both sites. In 2024, the Town received an EPA grant and with locally approved matching funds, directed CDM Smith in 2025 to begin the planning and design process for the Lincoln Street Well project.
The new Lincoln Street Well facility will contain highly specialized systems to filter out PFAS, Iron, and Manganese. To accomplish this, the facility will need to increase in footprint and size from approximately 100 sq. ft. to 900 sq. ft. Due to the size of the necessary equipment, the height of the existing building will need to be raised to about 36 ft.
The total estimated cost of the project is $16.5 million. The Town is currently evaluating the best way to pay for the facility. Options include the State Revolving Fund, using the Town’s bonding capacity, or a combination of the two. The State Revolving Fund provides affordable financing options to communities across the Commonwealth to improve water infrastructure, ensure compliance with federal and state water quality standards, support safe drinking water, implement watershed and stormwater management, address climate resiliency, and administer the community septic loan program (Source: mass.gov).
Residents will be asked to approve funding at the Annual Town Meeting and the Town Election. The Town has taken a proactive approach to procure the construction of the Lincoln Street Well with general bids due prior to Annual Town Meeting on April 8th. This will allow the Town to adjust the funding request according to the true cost of the project. The current estimated cost of $16.5 million is projected to impact the tax bill of a $1 million household by $252.00.
Please stay tuned to hear the final tax bill impacts on this proposed capital project once the procurement process is complete.
Construction Impacts
The construction will take approximately 18 months to complete and is expected to begin in the fall of 2026 to avoid shutting the well down during the summer peak season.
The Lincoln Street Well will be offline for about five months of construction. During this time, the entirety of the Town’s water supply will come from Gravelly Pond. Given that almost half (40%) of our water supply is sourced from Lincoln Street Well, it is not sustainable to fully supply our water from Gravelly Pond long term. Additionally, after the Lincoln Street Well improvements are completed, the Town will be able to pursue improvements at Gravelly Pond by temporarily using Lincoln Street Well as the primary water source.
All updates on the construction timing and impacts will be widely communicated to residents. Once complete, our attention will focus on removing PFAS at Gravelly Pond through upgraded treatment processes within the existing Water Treatment Plant.
PFAS testing results and additional information are available at manchester.ma.us/777/PFAS. If residents have additional questions, email DPW Director Chuck Dam at damc@manchester.ma.us. Stay tuned for part 2 of our next capital discussion on the Rotunda Preservation Project.
Tony Barletta is Manchester’s Town Administrator. Email him at townadminstrator@manchester.ma.us.
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