Tolland selectmen approve $19,490 blower and plan pump, septic and transfer‑station repairs for town meeting

Highway Superintendent Kate Donovan told the Tolland Board of Selectmen on April 13 that the highway department will rent a roller for two months at an estimated $10,500 to support dirt‑road grading this summer and will begin roadside tree and debris work with Liberty Tree Care.

Donovan asked to replace the department's single blower with a Turbo Double Blower, estimated at $19,490, and said she planned to pay from about $68,000 remaining in the public‑works account. Selectman Ed Deming moved to approve the purchase; Selectman Steven DellaGiustina seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Donovan also reported two Bermann Services quotes to bring the town's gas and diesel pumps up to code: $6,200 for the first phase and $6,400 for sandblasting and repainting as a second phase. She advised that pump mechanisms appear high quality and that preventive maintenance would be less costly than full replacement. The board agreed the pump work should be listed as a line item on the Annual Town Meeting warrant.

On septic issues, Donovan said Mount Everett Sanitation will complete a Title 5 inspection and locate the library leach field; she added the town will withhold payment for that inspection until a previously paid survey has been completed. She also requested a quote to install plastic risers on the highway department septic tank; the current configuration, she said, requires pumping about every month and a half.

Donovan said the transfer station project now requires two concrete slabs instead of the originally planned three and that additional funds will be needed to build wall‑block sides; the selectmen agreed to add an article at the Annual Town Meeting to cover cost overruns.

Next steps: The selectmen will place the pump repairs and transfer station overruns on the warrant for the town's Annual Meeting for resident approval.