Heading into Spring: Project Updates & Meet the Engineers!

The next phase of the community wastewater project is about to begin! The Selectboard has approved the contracts with Stone Environmental, Inc., and Birchline Planning, LLC. Outreach to property owners in the service territory for potential connection will begin early this Spring. This next phase is to conduct further analysis, refine and update the cost estimate, and develop final designs.

This will enable the Town to answer specific questions such as:
• What are the anticipated costs;
• How will ledge along Brookside Road be handled;
• What will the final design look like;
• How does drip dispersal work?

The Town will also be able to begin developing a sewer ordinance that would be adopted by the Select Board after a successful bond vote. The ordinance will establish how capacity is allocated, how connection and user fees are calculated, and the process for property owners in the service territory to connect to the system.

The Wastewater Outreach Advisory Committee will be working in March with the Town’s Consultants and the Planning Commission on a Communication Plan to provide timely information and further promote community engagement and discussion, with the goal of having a well-informed electorate. Information about the project can be found at  https://www.westfordsfuture.com. An anticipated bond vote will occur no sooner than November of 2023.

The consultants of Stone Environmental, Inc., and Birchline Planning LLC have been working with the Town for many years, exploring solutions for our highly constrained soils in the center of Town and we’re very fortunate to have such expertise and guidance. We’re pleased to introduce our consulting team members:

Amy Macrellis and Peter Lazorchak of Stone Environmental, Inc. 
Stone Environmental is a 100% employee-owned environmental science, engineering, and field services firm located in Montpelier, Vermont. Stone’s capabilities include environmental assessment and remediation, water resources management, natural resources engineering and design, environmental modeling, agrochemical fate and exposure, data quality assessments, and geospatial analysis, data visualization, and application development.

Amy is a Senior Water Quality Specialist at Stone Environmental, where she has over two decades of experience with wastewater and stormwater management projects, policy development, community wastewater needs assessments and feasibility studies, and applied water quality research projects. She “grew up” on decentralized wastewater feasibility and demonstration projects and remains committed to providing safe, sanitary wastewater treatment for Vermont’s unsewered villages. In addition to managing wastewater needs and feasibility studies, Amy provides permitting and regulatory compliance support for villages both devoted and lucky enough to have soil-based wastewater treatment systems in operation. Since the early 2000s, she has led or supported hydrogeologic investigations for the design, permitting, and construction of a wide variety of soil-based treatment practices for stormwater and wastewater systems. Amy has been working with the Westford Planning Commission, residents, and a variety of consultants on various wastewater treatment-related efforts for our Town Center since 2007.

Peter is the leader of Stone’s Water Resources Management Group, and a civil and environmental engineer with over 20 years’ experience in the consulting industry. His areas of expertise include wastewater treatment and disposal, stormwater management, land use planning, and navigating local, state, and federal permitting processes. Peter has designed hundreds of soil-based wastewater systems, ranging from single-family systems to large community and commercial systems. Through innovative thinking, perseverance, and solid interpersonal skills, he has a track record of advancing challenging projects. He recently served on the Indirect Discharge Technical Advisory Committee assisting the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation with their regulation update. Peter is a licensed Professional Engineer in Vermont, a Vermont Class B Licensed Designer, and a LEED Accredited Professional.

Juli Beth (JB) Hinds of Birchline Planning LLC. 
JB is the principal of Birchline Planning LLC, a sole proprietorship based in one of her two hometowns, Waterbury, VT.  She has been around Vermont her whole life, growing up partly in Waterbury and partly in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.  How long, you ask?  Well, she remembers well when Sears first opened on Shelburne Road.  JB is a planner by training with a bachelor’s in Economics from Hollins College, Virginia’s first chartered college for women, and a Master of City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University.   JB was the Executive Director of the Mad River Valley Planning District from 1997 through 2000.  In January 2001 she became Director of Planning and Zoning for the City of South Burlington, Vermont, where her responsibilities also included developing and managing Vermont's first storm water utility.  Birchline Planning LLC was founded in 2012 to support “Great Waters and Great Communities.”  JB is proud to work with cities and towns throughout Vermont on wastewater, stormwater, land use, zoning, and strategic planning.  She has notably supported the Valley towns and Sugarbush as a consultant, working for many years with the Stone Environmental team on the successful construction of wastewater systems to serve Warren Village and Irasville (that’s where Lawson’s Finest Liquids Brewery is).  JB is honored to be working on Westford’s Future, supporting the team on the financial projections, grants management, ordinance development, and public communications tasks. ​