Selectboard discusses but takes no action on groundwater source protection in West Village

The Selectboard thoroughly discussed but took no action on an agenda item concerning water quality in West Charlotte Village during their regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 13.

Chair Matt Krasnow said that he wants to keep the agenda item for future Selectboard meetings to keep an open dialogue for the public to provide input.

“A few months ago, it came to our attention that there was stormwater from Ferry Road running onto private property and not doing what it was intended to do from an engineering perspective,” Krasnow said. “The last couple of months, the Selectboard has been looking at that with the previous stormwater scoping study that was conducted in 2015. We reviewed that and saw there is an infrastructure that is not working properly.”

Krasnow said the board intends to “dust off that study and look at it with fresh eyes.” Resident Ronda Moore told Krasnow that there are various issues concerning water quality that have been going on for years.

“It’s very well known that the groundwater recharge potential in the entire West Village, from Route 7 to the lake, is poor,” Moore said. “Somewhere in this area, particularly along Greenbush Road, we’re obtaining groundwater. We don’t know where it’s coming from.”

Moore suggested that the town hire a hydrologist for a new study of the problem. “The West Village has also been challenged not just for water quality, but also water quantity,” Moore said. “One well was drilled in 1972 and previously yielded 100 gallons per minute. In 2018 the well failed and it was corrected, but it failed again a year later. It got corrected again after it was drilled deeper. But the yield has gone from 100 gallons per minute to 20 gallons.” Moore said that she suspects the decline in water quantity is typical of old water wells in the area.

“Over the years, they begin to decline,” she said. “There’s some real concern about that because we don’t have another source of water.”

Krasnow said it is possible to use American Rescue Plan funds given to the town by the federal government to conduct studies on the problem.

“We are going to keep this on our radar,” Krasnow said. “As potential funding ideas become clearer, and priorities crystalize, we’re going to keep this discussion going and move forward.”

Moore is a former member of the Zoning Board of Appeals and led a group of 16 residents who appealed the Planning Commission’s July approval of the Charlotte Health Care Center. The petitioners argued that the proposed site of the center, at 251 Ferry Road, is a protected wetlands area and would violate the town’s land use regulations if built at the location. On Wednesday, Sept. 15, The Charlotte News broke the story that Evergreen Family Health Group has suspended its plans to build the center.