Town Meeting rejects irrigation system

Voters at the November 4 Special Town Meeting rejected a $20,000 irrigation system proposed for the recreational field that will replace the demolished Sacred Heart building at Deborah Sampson Park. This field is intended for general recreational use, with occasional use by organized sports programs when other athletic fields are insufficient. $60,000 for the balance of the project, including benches, picnic tables, expanded parking, pathways, seeding, etc., was approved.

Well #6, which is discolored by iron and manganese that stains laundry, dishes and plumbing fixtures, is activated when the other wells cannot keep up with peak summer demand. An irrigation system at Deborah Sampson Park would have increased demand for municipal water in summer when Sharon's water supply is most constrained by hot, dry weather. 

Sharon's award-winning water conservation program has reduced demand enough that Well #6 is seldom needed despite new demand from the 156 apartments at Avalon Bay and 79 apartments at the Wilber School. However, future development such as the Sharon Commons mall and Rattlesnake Hill will challenge the community to use water even more efficiently, or else pay the multi-million-dollar cost of building and operating a filtration plant to remove iron and manganese at Well #6.

PS - The $20,000 cost of the irrigation system would not have included the value of the large volumes of treated drinking water that would have been used to irrigate the field in summer.