Milton committee updates water plans

The Milton Water Committee is working to update to the town’s capital improvement plan to prioritize the next batch of water infrastructure projects.

The plan was last updated in June 2021, and since that time, the top two items on the list have been crossed off: a new well and treatment plant at Shipbuilder’s Village. Field work has been completed on what was the No. 3 project: water main upgrades at Atlantic Avenue, Atlantic Street and Chestnut Street. The only item left to cross off is submitting paperwork to officially close the project. 

That means several new projects will move up the list, with the top two set to be upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant on Chandler Street, and a new well and treatment plant on Federal Street.

The Chandler Street project has been in the works for several years, and would include upgrading the plant’s electric system, generator, chemical feeds and testing equipment, and level the concrete floor. The project was first discussed in 2019 with plans to do it in 2020, but the town held off until the Shipbuilder’s project was complete, as town officials wanted to use the same specs on Chandler Street.

At Federal Street, the town is planning to use four acres of land it purchased adjacent to the Rails to Trails in 2019 for installing a new well and treatment plant that would better serve customers on the south end of town. The town is planning to use $1.6 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to do the project, although, at this time, the town has not put the project out to bid.

The plan envisions continuing the town’s upgrades to its existing water mains, with projects planned at Walnut Street, Mill Street and Carey Street. At Walnut and Mill streets, the town is planning to upgrade to 8-inch water mains with new service taps and valves. On both streets, road construction will be part of the project. 

The third water main upgrade is at Carey Street, which runs between Lake Avenue and Lavinia Street. There, the town would replace 2-inch mains with 6-inch mains. At this time, the town does not have engineering plans or funding mechanisms in place to do the three water main projects. 

Finally, the list includes the possible installation of a new 500,000-gallon water tower at the town’s Federal Street property. While this item is lower on the priority list, indicating that it will likely be years until it comes to fruition, the idea is to put in a second tower to help ease the demands on the water system placed by new development, which would include the Granary at Draper Farms project, a 1,350-unit development that would be built on a 453-acre parcel off Sand Hill Road. The Granary is scheduled for a 20-year build out, and site plans have yet to be submitted, but town officials want to have infrastructure in place as homes begin coming online in future years. 

One area that could end up on the list is Reed Street, where a water main has broken twice in less than a year, the most recent being April 27, and disrupted service throughout town. The pipes along Reed Street are old, concrete pipes that are not easy to fix.

“It’s the type of older infrastructure that is going to continually break,” Mayor John Collier said.