Cavendish Water Worries Continue

By LEO GRAHAM, courtesy of the Vermont Journal

CAVENDISH - Of all the issues facing Cavendish, none has the weight of water. In recent weeks it has become apparent that the water filtration system Town Manager had hoped to have on line by the New Year was going to be delayed. The main reason for the delay has been the pace at which the State has permitted the process. For example, it took the State Division of Water Supply 13 months to approve the new biological system to remove excessive amounts of iron and manganese from the municipal water supply. The State had to issue a waver to allow Cavendish to install the new technology because a biological system does not exist in roster of approved filtration systems. Once the Town got the waiver it seemed clear that the approval for the specific system would follow - the only maker of this kind of water filtration system is Degremont of Canada. But logic is not always the guiding beacon some assume it to be. The State must still allow another waiver allowing the project to be initiated without a competitive bidding process. Of course, there cannot be any other bidders for this type of filtration system as they don’t exist.

A frequent observer and critic of the water project, Sara Stowell said, “I’m shocked” when she learned of the delay. She accused the Water Board, and more specifically Town Manager Richard Svec, who is Chair of the Water Board of lacking “accountability.” She continued, “I don’t understand why everything has to be exclusively in your [Svec’s] head.” She called for published timelines and specific goals and a description of just who is responsible for what. Stowell was clearly implying that the political side of the equation - State approval - could somehow be speeded up if a published timeline existed. Svec allowed that he could provide her with a timeline if she so desired but indicated that guaranteeing political results by a specific time was not really possible.

The other issue clouding the completion of the water filtration project is the new discovery that Degremont assumed a 20-week window from the time the filtration plant was finally ordered until it could be delivered. Svec said he had understood differently at the start. The Town cannot legally order the filtration plant until they get approval from the State. However Degremont allowed that if the Town (Svec with the approval of the Water Board) wrote a letter to the firm stating that they believed approval to be imminent, Degremont would start final engineering work for the specific needs of Cavendish. Svec admitted doing so would put the Water Board “at risk” because if the State ultimately rejected the filtration plan, the Water Board would still have to pay for the engineering specs. Svec referred to “a State guy for facilities” who said he really didn’t think such an idea posed “much of a problem.” But Svec admitted the facilities guy was not central to the approval process.

Svec would clearly like to have the whole water issue resolved. He has advocated advancing along what he called a “triple track.” The first track is to do whatever is possible to secure final State approval of the filtration system; the second track is to get the building into which the filtration system is going to be housed, completed and ready to receive the system; and the third track is to get the much sweeter water from a new water source approved for use in the municipal water system. Svec said that such an approach was outside of the usual way bureaucracies’ function but he believed it was possible.

The water system operator for Cavendish, Dave Duquette agreed with an assertion by Margo Caufield that it would be “well into 2008” before the filtration system would be on line. Duquette stressed the need to finish the building before frost set in because once it is built the filtration system can be installed during the winter months if it comes to that. However, Duquette said that he could not flush the system - and he made it clear repeated flushings would be needed to get the old stuff out of the pipes - until springtime.

Svec hopes to set up a meeting with Cavendish officials, State Representatives, and the State’s Division of Water Supply in Waterbury next week. Apparently an engineering timeline is relatively straightforward whereas its corresponding political one is less so.

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