Block Island Water District wins commission advisory to build 20x30 well pump house on Payne Road

On July 29, 2025, the New Shoreham Conservation Commission voted to provide a positive advisory for a special-use permit sought by the Block Island Water District to construct a 20-by-30-foot well pump house on a seven-acre parcel off Payne Road (the former Schmidt property).

The district representative told the commission the property had been purchased with state Water Resources Board funding and later supplemented by USDA funds for well development. The project includes two drilled production wells, underground piping and electrical connections back to the treatment facility, and a small aboveground building to house variable-frequency drives, an automatic transfer switch for a standby generator, and other mechanical and plumbing components needed to operate the wells.

The representative said the building is intended as a utility structure in a Residential A zone; it was designed to resemble a detached garage with siding and two nonfunctional (faux) windows. The district emphasized the building will not be a residence: “It’s not a single-family dwelling. So the special-use permit is for a utility use,” the Block Island Water District representative told the commission.

Project details provided at the meeting: - Two current test wells were drilled and underwent development pump tests; the wells are approximately 275–280 feet deep. - A 48-hour pump test at production rates showed no measurable drawdown in a monitoring well located about 50 feet away, and a second, more distant residential well also showed no change during tests, according to the presenter. - The building footprint is 20 by 30 feet and will contain electrical control equipment; the district plans to use a propane standby generator the representative described as quieter than diesel options and engineered to meet residential decibel limits. - The property contains an existing World War II-era tower the district said it intends to preserve.

The district representative said a final hydrogeology report was still pending at the time of the meeting; staff noted there is an earlier, substantial drilling report submitted to the Water Resources Board and State Properties Commission that supported the state’s acquisition of the site. The district also said it has been coordinating with The Nature Conservancy and the island Land Trust to secure wellhead protection easements on adjacent protected parcels.

Commission members asked about noise, visual impacts, site maintenance, invasive vegetation management and how the land would be maintained; the district said the site will be mowed annually and that security cameras and entry controls will be installed. The presenter said the district is proceeding with reverse-osmosis brackish-water treatment at its facility and that these wells will augment the facility’s production to serve anticipated needs including potential Westside housing and public-safety projects.

A motion to provide a positive advisory for the Block Island Water District’s special-use permit under the town zoning provision cited at the meeting (section 306(d)) was made and seconded; the commission voted to forward the advisory. The transcript shows the motion and second; a full roll-call tally was not recorded in the meeting transcript.