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Select Board approves filing USDA-RD grant/loan notice for $1.8M water storage tank; member voices concern
Summary
The Select Board voted to approve a Notice of Intent to file a USDA-RD grant/loan application for a proposed $1.8 million water storage tank intended to support east-side development; Selectman Leon Rideout expressed concern about voter burden and said he may oppose the project at town meeting without clearer information.
The Lancaster Select Board voted on Jan. 21 to authorize town staff to file a Notice of Intent to apply for a USDA Rural Development (USDA-RD) grant/loan for a proposed water storage tank, a project Land Use Coordinator Robin Irving said has grown to an estimated cost of $1.8 million.
"The cost has increased to $1.8M and will require engineering," Robin Irving told the board as she asked for authorization to submit the USDA-RD application. Irving said the application was written as an economic development project because the town cannot currently support additional connections at mandated service levels; the tank would allow more development on the town’s east side.
Irving also told the board that repayment of any loan would be borne by all taxpayers, not just water and sewer users. She said USDA will not guarantee funding until the town authorizes submission; she added that if the board later determines the project cannot proceed, the town will not sign the grant/loan package.
Selectman Leon Rideout said the timing is difficult, with many items already before voters. "It’s going to be a really heavy lift this year," Rideout said, and he warned that he might oppose the project at town meeting if the board does not receive clearer information about needs and costs. Public commenter Rob Christie asked whether reduced demand or private wells (he referenced Forbes potentially digging its own wells) could affect the town’s pressure and usage projections.
The board voted to open the public hearing and then, by motion of Selectman Kathy-Jean Lavoie seconded by Selectman Leon Rideout, approved the Notice of Intent to submit the USDA-RD grant/loan application. The motion was recorded as "All in favor; motion carried."
