Southborough committee backs two grant applications to study Route 9 wastewater capacity and downtown sewer options

The Town of Southborough Wastewater Study Committee voted unanimously on June 20 to authorize two Expressions of Interest (EOI) to state development programs to fund near-term engineering work to define wastewater disposal capacity along Route 9 and to develop and implement a wastewater plan for the downtown/village business district.

The decision followed a presentation by Pia Lombardo, consultant with Lombardo Associates, who summarized the firm’s Route 9 Wastewater Management Action Plan and recommended a short list of next steps the town should pursue to make wastewater-driven redevelopment financially feasible. Lombardo emphasized that “disposal capacity really defines what you got” and argued the town should focus on hydrogeologic assessments and targeted, implementable pilot projects rather than only longer, costly comprehensive planning studies.

Why it matters: Committee members said wastewater capacity is a gating issue for higher-density commercial and mixed-use development along Route 9, which the town has identified as a primary economic asset. Committee members and the consultant framed the work as a business-minded step to attract developers while minimizing new burdens on property taxpayers.

Lombardo’s recommendations and evidence Lombardo reviewed alternatives to conventional deep gravity sewers—so-called decentralized or cluster systems that use…