Work to bring water and sewer service to a short stretch of Western Massachusetts has been a tall order, but for a rural town in Hampshire County, leaders say the upgrade has big implications
It’s been five years since the town of Hatfield was awarded $2 million by the state to extend water and sewer lines along Route 5. With the town putting up $1.6 million, the goal was to bring in at least 1,200 feet worth of water service and extend sewer service by about a mile.
On the surface, with only a few dozen homes and businesses along the stretch known as West Street, the project’s scale might seem small compared to those in a bigger city.
But for the town of about 3,300, the expansion has implications not just for residents and commerce, but also the local ecosystem, says Select Board Chair Diana Szynal.
“It helps the residents along this corridor because they all had septic systems, some of which were failing, were challenged, and, even more concerning, this whole area sits above an aquifer recharge area,” she told WAMC. “So, being able to unhook those septic systems and have people tie into sewer is really a great step for making sure we don't have any problems with our aquifer.”
Known for its agricultural roots, Hatfield’s also effectively split by I-91, with much of the town on the east. However, on the west, along Route 5, is a section officials like Szynal say would benefit from a gravity sewer, pump station and other facilities going in.
The upgrade would factor into plans to expand for the company Scapes Builders & Excavation, as well as Stiebel Eltron, a heating products manufacturer and supplier. That’s according to the office of Hampshire, Franklin, Worcester District State Senator Jo Comerford.
Synzal tells WAMC discussions to update the infrastructure date back to at least 2016. A few years later, with millions in funding from MassWorks grants from the state’s Executive Office of Economic Development – the work’s still not done, but it is getting there.
“We started out with the simple relaying of the underground sewer line and water … but then, somewhere along the way, they experienced what we would call a ‘U-turn,’ where they found an excess amount of water underneath that they could not continue putting the pipeline through,” EOEC Program Manager Jong Wai Tommee explained. “They had to go back and de-water pretty much the entire project site, before they could continue.”
Tommee says that process added two years to the project, with hopes to wrap things up in the spring. In the meantime, a series of pipes and pumps along parts of Route 5 have been doing the “de-watering” work.
The extra work has also meant extra costs, leading to the town approaching the economic development office, securing a $1.5 million grant in 2022, then another $300,000 in 2024 to offset costs related to property owner concerns and construction costs rising above estimates.
Office of Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao touted that progress in Hatfield Friday. She emphasized how her office focuses on driving economic growth across the state, including pockets of Western Mass.
“There's so much opportunity here and a lot of it is really around making the right investments in infrastructure to enable economic growth,” Hao told WAMC. “We are very excited for this partnership with Hatfield, and we're excited that this project will enable all kinds of economic growth, new jobs, company expansion. It's $3.8 million, we know it's going to pay back, multiple fold.”
According to Comerford, some 30 percent of the state lacks water/sewer, with many of those affected in the western part of the Commonwealth.
Given the area’s significantly smaller tax base, the senator tells WAMC the ongoing support from the Economic Development office ends up playing an outsized role compared to in eastern Massachusetts.
“I think the government has a role to play in small communities that is outsized, it's really the difference between surviving and not when we get these awards - that's the truth about the awards out here,” Comerford said. “I think for some communities, it's like a nice bit of icing on a great cupcake. Out here, it's the whole cake.”
