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Town administrator reports: new Republic trash contract and toter rollout, grants for van and fire equipment, water-plant milestones
Summary
The Town Administrator told the Board of Selectmen on April 8 that Republic is the apparent low bidder on a three‑year trash contract that would supply 96‑gallon toters, announced state grants for a transit van and firefighter equipment, and outlined April–May milestones for the town’s water treatment plant and a court-ordered drainage design.
The Town Administrator updated the Board of Selectmen on multiple municipal operations and grant awards at the April 8 meeting, highlighting a three-year trash contract with a toter-based pickup system, several state grant awards, and a schedule for finalizing the town’s water treatment plant upgrades.
The town opened trash bids last week and received three responses. The apparent low bidder was Republic (Republic Services); the town administrator said the three-year total with Republic is $2,182,120.25. The administrator reported that including 96‑gallon toters in the contract would increase the first-year cost to approximately $578,725 and that the toters would be supplied and distributed by Republic. The administrator said the town considered purchasing toters separately (which earlier estimates suggested would cost about $500,000), but that Republic’s proposal to supply and distribute the toters as part of the contract made procuring them through the contract preferable. The town anticipates a rollout targeting a July 1 start for service under the new contract, with distribution expected roughly six to eight weeks after contract award; the administrator said residents would receive multiple notifications and instructional materials on tote usage.
Town staff also reported three state grant awards: an FY2025 Community Transit Grant covering 85% of a small transit van for the senior center (total vehicle value $81,089 with the town share $12,163); FY2025 Safe and Senior Safe grants to the fire department ($4,700 and $2,200 respectively) to support school visits, senior outreach and items such as Knox boxes for seniors; and a $2,278.81 award for firefighter safety equipment, intended to cover PFAS-free protective gear in round two of equipment grants.
On the water treatment plant, the administrator read a schedule from the project engineers calling for remote-site SCADA cutovers to begin April 16 with sequential well integrations (Well 2, Well 7 then others), filters and chemical-feed startup in late April and May, and a planned full plant start-up and additional piping work in mid-to-late May. The administrator said the schedule is tight, urged staff to meet the timeline, and noted the town is operating under drought-related watering restrictions.
The administrator also reported progress on a court-mandated drainage fix on Bellingham Road: engineers completed field surveying with the property owner’s permission and now have the site data needed to finish preliminary and final designs for bidding. The administrator said remaining work is primarily office-based design and that the board will receive bid documents when they are ready.
The board heard these reports and asked staff to continue outreach to residents on the trash rollout and to keep the board apprised of milestones on the water plant and drainage projects.
