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Select Board approves National Grid grant of location to replace aging gas main on Elsinore Street
Summary
After a public hearing and presentations from the town engineer and National Grid, the Select Board approved a grant of location for National Grid to replace legacy gas mains on Elsinore Street, with conditions listed in the town-engineer memorandum. The board closed the hearing and voted to approve the petition.
At a public hearing the Select Board reviewed a petition from National Grid seeking a grant of location to install a new 2‑inch plastic gas main from 235 Elsinore Street to Grant Street as part of an aging‑main replacement program. Mary Mulroney, representing National Grid, described the work and the material lengths involved: the petition lists the removal or replacement of several legacy segments (approximately 1,215 feet of 2‑inch coated steel dating to earlier decades and other short legacy sections) and the installation of roughly 2,400 feet of new 2‑inch plastic main for this stretch.
Town Engineer Steve Dukan and an engineering memorandum from Wright‑Pierce were cited during the hearing; Dukan confirmed the listed permit conditions are consistent with town practice and asked that the board include those conditions in any approval. Mulroney explained construction sequencing: new main installation will occur with services transferred one by one so the existing main remains active until customers are switched to the new main.
Board members and residents asked about abandoned pipe left in the ground, resident access during construction, traffic management, notifications, coordination with town paving schedules, and how service connections would be handled. Mulroney said National Grid will notify residents in advance of work near their homes and coordinate sequencing with the town engineer. The board voted to close the hearing and approved the grant of location with the town‑engineer conditions included.
What the vote means: National Grid may proceed with the project subject to the permit conditions and coordination with town staff; the company does not typically remove all abandoned pipe absent a specific necessity, though it will cooperate if removals interfere with other infrastructure work.
Next steps: National Grid will meet with town engineering staff to finalize scheduling and permitting; construction is expected to be coordinated so paving and driveway access concerns are mitigated during the work.
