Aquarion proposes interconnection of Woodrich Village to Wolcott water main; company to fund construction and convey main to town

Aquarion Water Company and Snyder Civil Engineering presented plans Dec. 15 to connect Aquarion’s Woodrich Village water system to the Town of Wolcott’s water main to provide additional treatment and remove the existing local well station. The commission gave conceptual support and asked staff to review formal plans and route maps before a future vote.

At the meeting, Cydney Caterino, EIT at Aquarion, and Zachary Kuegler, PE at Snyder Civil, described a proposed route from the intersection of Potuccos Ring Road and MacCormack Drive north on Potuccos Ring and along Lyman Road to 128 Lyman Road, a run the engineers estimated at roughly 2,300 feet. The plan calls for a minimum 8‑inch water main to achieve required fire flow, fire hydrants at a maximum spacing of 400 feet (including a hydrant at the end of the main for flushing), and a tee with three valves at each street intersection crossed by the new main.

Kuegler said Woodrich Village would be fed through a 2‑inch domestic meter pit at 128 Lyman Road; Aquarion would remove its existing well‑treatment facility and convey the new main to the town up to the meter pit. According to the memorandum provided to the commission, the Woodrich Village system serves 27 service connections (about 72 people) and has an average day demand of about 2,500 gallons.

Commission members pressed project staff on construction sequencing and long‑term road impacts. “If you have 25% connect then 75% you have vulnerabilities along the way,” said Aquarion’s representative, noting that installing service lines to every property before residents commit to connect can leave many isolated curb boxes and repeated road cuts. Chairman James Paolino described prior projects where staggered connections and repeated trenching left road surfaces repeatedly patched and led to road bonding work to restore original pavement.

The engineers said the recommended approach is to construct the main and install service stubs or curb boxes only when property owners commit to connect, unless funding or grant requirements dictate otherwise. Aquarion indicated it expects to pay construction costs for the main and may apply for State Revolving or SRS funding; commissioners confirmed the town would not receive construction funds and that Aquarion would be responsible for the work and for conveying the main to Wolcott after construction.

Administrator Philip Olmstead raised a water‑quality issue for the commission to consider: portions of the town’s system have shown elevated trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids in past monitoring, and Olmstead said staff will need to confirm how the interconnection affects existing monitoring and whether an extension of diversion authorization or review by the State Health Department is required. Olmstead also reported the town’s diversion capacity is roughly one‑half million gallons and that he will investigate state permitting implications.

Commissioners asked about paving strategy; Snyder Civil said final trenching and paving methods depend on the Department of Public Works requirements and road condition and that trenchless techniques can minimize repeated surface disruption. Aquarion said it would prepare formal design documents, a final memo of understanding and maps and forward them to the town administrator and the commission’s attorney for review. The commission indicated the conceptual plan fits typical approvals and expected to schedule a vote once attorney and staff reviews are complete.

The commission did not take a formal vote on the interconnection at the Dec. 15 meeting. Other meeting business included unanimous approval of the Oct. 20, 2025 minutes and an adjournment vote at 7:30 p.m. The commission’s administrator said December water quality monitoring and reporting were in compliance, December billing was distributed on time, radio meter reads are operating in older areas of the system, and the department is investigating an area with low flow and high distribution usage.

Quotes from the meeting included: “We would prefer not to put [service lines] in or at least put them in if people were committed to connecting,” an Aquarion project manager said when discussing service‑line sequencing. Administrator Phil Olmstead said the trihalomethane and haloacetic acid numbers in parts of the town’s distribution are “a concern of ours.”

Next steps: Aquarion/Snyder will send an updated memo, map and formal design for review; Phil Olmstead will coordinate attorney review and confirm permitting needs with state agencies. The commission expects to consider a formal approval at a subsequent meeting once documentation and legal review are complete.