Board approves septic plan and 880-gallon flow for 2 East Main Street after public hearing

The Southborough Board of Health on June 11 approved a revised septic plan for 2 East Main Street, accepting an 880-gallon-per-day system design using Goodflow Solutions technology and authorizing staff to finalize the construction plan.

The decision follows a repeated public hearing (the April hearing was repeated because of notification issues) and came after presentations from the applicant’s engineer and town staff, who said the proposed system offers greater setbacks to wetlands and meets Title 5 separation requirements.

The vote is significant because it determines the wastewater treatment capacity tied to a proposed eight-unit apartment project in downtown Southborough and touches on longstanding local concerns about stormwater and high groundwater in the town center.

Peter Bemis, speaking for the applicant, summarized the project history and the technical rationale for using the Goodflow system. He said the new technology would allow a greater setback from wetlands and the intermittent stream and improve effluent treatment compared with the earlier system. Bemis said the project team documented historical flow and that the site’s use supported the proposed capacity.

Dennis Costello (Health Department staff) and peer reviewers told the board that the new plan provides the same or better groundwater protection and that site testing showed the location could accommodate the proposed system under Title 5. Costello said the design meets Title 5 separation to groundwater, including a four-foot separation for the soil absorption system.

An abutter, Steve Morrow, urged the board to consider ongoing downtown drainage problems and a reportedly high water table, saying some basements in the area are regularly pumped out. “My biggest concern is that this project is gonna add another 880 gallons worth of water into the water table that's already at at its breaking point,” Morrow said. He also described a drainage pipe near the railroad tracks that he said has been covered with material and no longer drains as intended.

Costello and Bemis both responded that the proposed septic design conforms to Title 5 and that the incremental impact of the increase in daily flow would be minimal once dispersed through the soil absorption system. Costello estimated that the difference between what is currently approved and the requested capacity was about 134 gallons per day and said the system was designed to meet state code.

Board members discussed the difference between stormwater drainage (surface water from storms) and subsurface effluent discharged to a septic system. Members agreed the drainage problems in the downtown area raise broader infrastructure concerns for other town departments. The board asked staff to meet with DPW (Mr. Cundiff) to relay the public comments and see whether further town-level drainage work is advisable.

Motions and votes taken at the meeting: - The board voted to approve the increased flow (the board referenced historical information and authorized the 880-gallon-per-day figure using the Goodflow system). The motion passed by majority vote. - The board then voted to approve the proposed septic plan for 2 East Main Street, including the historical flow documentation, and directed that the plan be updated as a construction document; the motion passed. - The public hearing was closed at 12:56 p.m.

The applicant retains responsibility to produce the final construction documents reflecting the edits the board requested, and the health department will follow up with DPW on downtown drainage concerns and continue permitting coordination with the planning board and conservation commission. The conservation commission had granted an extension to the project’s order of conditions through July 2027.