Blandford Approves $42,606 in Water Plant Contract Amendments, Redirects Grant Funds

BLANDFORD -- November 3, 2025, Blandford Select Board approves $42,606 in water plant contract changes and redirects $125,000 in grant money toward consent order compliance. Sitting jointly with the Water Commission, the board unanimously ratified SCADA project Amendments 3 and 4, covering completed electrical room improvements and preliminary chemical room design work, paying the bills from roughly $45,000 remaining in the project account. Engineers from Wright Pierce recommended withdrawing a fifth amendment covering a long-troubled electrical feed to the plant, estimated at $300,000 to fix, and the board accepted the withdrawal unanimously. The board also voted to ask the state Executive Office of Economic Development to reallocate $125,000 from an existing $350,000 Rural Development grant, taking $75,000 for ozone system design and $50,000 for basket strainer design, to show progress under an active MassDEP consent order for disinfection byproduct violations. A separate $28,218 safety stop-control upgrade to the SCADA contract was deferred pending a funding review with town accountant Kelly. The board closed by appointing Sarah to the Finance Committee for a three-year term, though the committee still lacks a quorum with a maximum of five seats.