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Wastewater division proposes 'Cape Cod Clean Water Center' name and readies new labs, open house
Summary
Barnstable County wastewater division director proposed renaming the division the "Cape Cod Clean Water Center," described a new ARPA‑funded building with lab/classroom space and MassTech‑funded labs, and previewed a ribbon cutting and public open house; commissioners asked for further study and broader branding coordination.
Brian Baumgartel, director of the Wastewater Division in the Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment, presented March 26 a plan to rename the division the “Cape Cod Clean Water Center,” previewed an ARPA‑funded facility at Joint Base Cape Cod, and described programming for lab testing, workforce training and public outreach.
“Our mission is to support clean water by incubating emergent clean water technology and verifying technology performance, advancing scientific knowledge of the water environment,” Baumgartel said, reading a proposed mission statement that bundles existing programs including the Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Test Center (MASTC), the septic utility program and the AquaFund financial assistance program.
Why it matters: The proposal seeks to consolidate the division’s existing research, testing and training under a public‑facing brand and to make the new building a regional hub for prototype wastewater technology testing, workforce training and public outreach.
Facility and programming details Baumgartel described two phases. Phase 1 is an ARPA‑funded new building with a state‑of‑the‑art classroom, public meeting space and administrative support; phase 2 is a MassTech‑funded laboratory complex with wet labs. The laboratory plan includes three bench‑scale lab spaces that would have access to real wastewater streams for prototype testing and rapid diagnostic analysis (including qPCR capability), a biology lab, a chemistry lab and autoclave facilities.
He said the facility design targets near‑zero water discharge by separating gray water and urine, recycling roof runoff and routing building water through on‑site demonstration reuse systems and composting toilets.
Baumgartel presented a potential public schedule: a ribbon cutting and groundbreaking for the MassTech labs in late spring/early summer, followed by a June public open house and a larger community open day in the summer. He asked the commissioners for feedback on naming and branding.
Commissioner response and next steps Commissioners said they supported the concept but asked for broader study of how the proposed name would fit into county branding and requested counsel review and assembly consultation before formally approving a name change. One commissioner urged including “Barnstable County” visually so residents associate the center with county government.
Baumgartel said the county will not remove program trademarks for subprograms; instead, staff would look for a consistent presentation that ties subprograms to the county umbrella. He and commissioners agreed to gather additional feedback and legal/organizational consultation before any formal renaming vote.
Ending Baumgartel invited commissioners to tour the new facility and said staff will return with refined branding options after soliciting feedback from the board and legal counsel; no renaming vote was taken at this meeting.
