Local Government

Daily Buzz | PFAS Filters are Online at Mill Pond

Also, answers and questions from School Building Committee

Nicci Kadilak

— 4 min read
Daily Buzz | PFAS Filters are Online at Mill Pond
I couldn’t just choose one turtle photo. How many can you count? Rotary Park in Wilmington; photo by author.

Hello, Burlington!

Wegmans Safety Night was a fun one last night. Trucks, lights, dunk tanks, hot dogs, live music, and free samples—it was a hit with my fam, and I know Baby Buzz will be looking forward to it for the next 364 days.

Speaking of what we’ve all been looking forward to, the Mill Pond PFAS filters are now up and running! You can read more about it below, and take a moment to enjoy your PFAS-free water straight from the tap.

Community Information

Burlington Installs PFAS Filters at Mill Pond Treatment Plant

Nicci Kadilak • Aug 3, 2023

In October 2020, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) published its PFAS public drinking water standard of 20 nanograms per liter/parts per trillion. In accordance with the new regulations, the Town of Burlington commenced testing for these chemicals in our water in May of 2021. The results of these tests indicated the pres…

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Finally, here’s the recap of answers and questions from School Building Committee you were promised yesterday.

The Committee started their meeting on Tuesday with responses to a few questions from previous SBC meetings:

  • No changes to Vincent Road are planned.
  • A timeline of the project can be found at the project’s website.
  • The project team doesn’t believe it’s likely that the state would provide funds for Pine Glen if Burlington turns down the combined school option (but see below for more info).
  • A parking structure with solar panels hasn’t been investigated but can be.
  • There are a few schools in nearby towns (Lexington, Billerica, Bedford, Andover) that are around the size we are talking about for the combined school. A note: from what I could find, the schools mentioned were single schools, not two smaller schools on the same campus which is what Burlington’s 640-student school is proposed to be. Another note, mentioned later during public participation: Though these schools are around the same capacity as the proposed large school, they are not all enrolled at capacity.
  • Tax estimates are annual costs to the taxpayer until the bond is paid out.
  • The School Committee’s Statement of Interest indicated they may consider consolidation when they first engaged MSBA. The feasibility study agreement (which came later) said that they would study both enrollment options (325 and 640 students).

There was also 20 minutes or so of public participation both before and after the main portion of the meeting:

  • The Planning Board commits to supporting traffic flow, in the case that the town ends up building the larger school.
  • Concerns were raised about being able to raise funding for building a new Pine Glen in the case that the smaller Fox Hill school is built.
  • The topic of equity was raised more than once—both in terms of building a brand new Fox Hill and then waiting for many years to address Pine Glen (which is around the same age) and also in terms of insisting on very small schools for Fox Hill and Pine Glen while Francis Wyman sits at about 500 students and more students will be added when the enrollment at Fox Hill is decreased.
  • Tax burden is a real concern for many residents. It is projected that taxes will increase regardless, either in the form of a debt exclusion (temporary tax increase until the bond is paid) or a Proposition 2.5 override (permanent tax increase), and many residents don’t have the ability to pay what might end up being a very significant tax increase.
  • A public debt schedule was requested, to include the costs of all the upcoming capital projects, including residential and commercial tax impact and more, so that taxpayers can have the requisite information to make a decision about how to vote if and when it comes to that.
  • Concern that a non-binding townwide referendum vote would muddy the waters, which was mentioned a bit yesterday.
  • The claim that the MSBA won’t entertain a Pine Glen project if the 325-student Fox Hill school is built was contested; one source said that schools can apply each year and the average wait time between projects in a single town might not be all that long. I haven’t seen any information either way on that.

Today in Burlington

Municipal Meetings and Community Events

That is all for today. I’ll see you again tomorrow!

Nicci

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