Reservoir sale foes strengthen
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By Susan Smallheer STAFF WRITER - Published: November 30, 2009
SPRINGFIELD – Jean Willard added her voice to those urging the Springfield Select Board to reconsider selling the town-owned Weathersfield Reservoir.
The board plans to seek town approval for the sale at town meeting.
The reservoir was once the town's sole source for drinking water, but the open reservoir was taken off-line in 1979, when the town switched to deep wells off Fairground Road.
Willard, a former long-time member of the Select Board, urged the board last week to hold on to the reservoir, saying the sale was foolish economy.
"At first, I really did not want to get involved," said Willard. "But as a former selectwoman, much involved in this issue during my nine years in office, I feel it is my responsibility to speak up."
Willard said that arguments that the reservoir could never be used as a public drinking water system were inaccurate, noting that in the future any water source will need treatment.
And she said arguments that farms upstream from the reservoir were polluting it, Willard said that the "brown water" was probably the result of erosion, since there are few animals on those farms anymore.
She said that only one house is downstream of the dam, and she said any deterioration of the dam was the result of neglect of the reservoir.
"Two votes and a Select Board mandate to take care of this property has been ignored and has increased this problem," she said.
She said the town had appropriated $100,000 to be used to repair and maintain the property – money that Town Manager Robert Forguites concedes hasn't been spent in the 20 years since it's been appropriated.
"It has been about 20 years since the last selective cutting of the forest," she said of the woodlands surrounding the reservoir. She said the town should investigate having the land logged before selling it.
Willard said she had heard rumors that the town was already negotiating to sell the property – before the town vote.
But Forguites said that he was "not aware of any negotiations."
David Yesman, who was also on the board 20 years ago, was on hand to offer support to Willard and Steve Sysko, a Springfield resident who has kept the issue alive for years.
Sysko accused the board of using "scare tactics" to convince townspeople to sell the reservoir.
He noted that floods several years ago in nearby Alstead, N.H., which devastated the town, were the result of a plugged culvert, and not a dam letting loose.
"Here in Springfield, nothing happened at the Weathersfield dam because the spillway was able to handle the huge flow of water," he said.
Forguites and Mark Blanchard, chairman of the Select Board, thanked the group, and noted that the exact wording of the special article hadn't been finalized yet.
susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com
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