Work To Connect Lanesborough Water Lines to Berkshire Village Underway
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| Though the water is perfectly clean, the Department of Environmental Protection issued an order around seven years ago asking for significant upgrades to the system. |
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — After many years with an independent water system, Berkshire Village is being connected to the Lanesborough water district and is undergoing infrastructure modernization.
"I am just so thankful to them, [the fire and water district] did a lot of the heavy lifting on this. They've done all the work with the USDA, and we've been included every step of the way," Berkshire Co-Operative President Lori DiLego said. "They went to bat for us in many different areas."
This was made possible by advocacy work done by the Lanesborough Village Fire and Water District for Berkshire Co-Operative Water Works, which resulted in the village receiving $2,395,200 from the United States Department of Agriculture to extend the main.
Construction began last week and includes the installation of wider pipes that will provide better water pressure to residents in the village. Road construction is projected to end by December and properties will be hooked up to the new main in the spring of 2022.
DiLego was excited to announce that this plan includes fire hydrants, which the village did not have before.
44 percent of the nearly $2.4 million received from the USDA's wastewater division is a grant and the rest is a 40-year loan. The village was awarded a grant from the Department of Environmental Protection that will help residents pay for water connections from the road to their homes.
Berkshire Co-operative Water Works was founded in 1942 to provide running water to families in the village. Because a majority of town voters did not accept the provisions of Chapter 252 of the Acts of 1938 that would have created the Berkshire Village Fire and Water District, the cooperative system was built around water provided by the Town of Lanesborough.
Berkshire Village is a community within Lanesborough that boasts around 35 houses and its own zip code.
Though the water is perfectly clean, the Department of Environmental Protection issued an order around seven years ago asking for significant upgrades to the system.
DiLego said that the state has been very patient with the village because they are aware that they have been actively seeking solutions.
"We could replace our own system, which would have been several million dollars. We looked at several options, joining with Pittsfield, joining with Cheshire, joining with the regional village fire water District, which is where we eventually obviously ended u," she said. "But we looked at all different kinds of options to see which would be the best solution for us."
In February of 2019, former Town Manager Paul Sieloff proposed that the cooperative merge with the Water District and that town would apply for a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to expand the district into the village.
The town and the Co-operative shared the cost of preparing a preliminary engineering plan that included purchasing water from the district. This was the basis of an application to the USDA to stop reliance on town water and the existing water distribution system in Berkshire Village, but it was withdrawn.
This was when the Lanesborough Fire and Water District stepped in and took on the project by submitting a new application to the USDA.
Though the village will be saying ‘goodbye' to spring water, DiLego is excited about the improved infrastructure and water pressure.
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