Chester voters overturn earlier vote approving water project

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2015-Telegraph Publishing LLC

A  vote to ratify the Chester water bond vote of May 19 went down to defeat today, Tuesday, June 30, in an anemic turnout of 143 voters out of a checklist of more than 2,000.  The final tally was 69 yes to 74 no.

The ratification vote was necessitated when the Town of Chester failed to warn the original vote for three consecutive weeks as required by state statute. If passed, the vote would have ratified the first vote that passed by 112 to 86 and would have authorized the town to borrow up to $4.05 million for new water mains and the second water tank.

While the failed ratification vote does not halt the project, it may result in the the state loan money going elsewhere. This would make borrowing more expensive and increase the cost of the project.

Chester crews worked all night last Thursday to repair aging water pipes, which have been plaguing the town. Chester Telegraph photo.

As a result of the first vote, the town met a deadline to keep low interest loan money earmarked for Chester in the state’s drinking water fund. While the failed ratification vote does not halt the project, it may result in the the state loan money going elsewhere. This would make borrowing more expensive and increase the cost of the project.

From the start, the project was complicated by the proposed purchase of 139 acres of land to place a second water tank on the east end of the system.

The land purchase was the subject of several closed door Select Board sessions before it was floated at a Dec. 17, 2014 meeting with a business plan to harvest gravel to offset the land purchase and a portion of the water project cost.

From that point, questions plagued the plan including the idea of spreading the cost to the town as a whole rather than just the system users. Whatever the outcome, the deficiencies, including insufficient fire flows and leaks that drain one-third of the system’s water flow, and aging mains like the one that broke at Depot and Maple last Thursday will continue to plague the 100-year-old water system until the town finds a formula voters will back.