Two appointed to fill vacant school board seats

Four selectmen and three School Committee members met Tuesday night and selected former Finance Committee Chairman Dave Emhardt and environmental consultant Robert Golledge to fill the remaining terms of School Committee members Liz Salisbury and Jill Stevens, who recently resigned for personal and business reasons.

Both positions will be up for election in the spring of 2013 as well as two three-year terms now held by School Committee Chairman John Bonnanzio and Reuki Schutt.

Selectmen received four applications for the two positions. One applicant, Mike Loughran, was nominated by Selectman John Connolly, but both Emhardt and Golledge received seven and six votes, respectively, in the first round of voting. Connolly later changed his vote so that Emhardt and Golledge both received unanimous support from both boards.

Bonnanzio said all four candidates were qualified for the position. Emhardt, a software development manager, is well versed in finance and is quite familiar with the school budget and town government. All the selectmen and School Committee members agreed that Emhardt is a very pleasant individual who works cooperatively with others.

Bonnanzio said Golledge has a lot of experience with government on the local, state and federal levels. He has served as a country director for the Peace Corps and has worked in environmental affairs for the state.

Both Golledge and Emhardt will officially join the School Committee when they are sworn in by the town clerk. The committee will now have five official members when the board next meets on August 30.

In other news Tuesday night, Water Department Supervisor Dennis Morton and DPW Superintendent Mike Trotta informed selectmen that although there is no water emergency, there are still sample tests showing coliform bacteria in Canton water.

According to Morton, the Water Department routinely monitors the presence of drinking water contaminants but upped the testing once tests in the spring showed the presence of coliform.

Morton said that 56 samples were taken during July and August so far, and 14 of them tested positive for coliform. The state standard is that no more than one sample per month, or 5 percent, may do so.

Morton stressed that coliform bacteria are not generally harmful and are naturally present in the environment, although they serve as an indicator that “other potentially harmful bacteria may be present.” However, he said none of the more harmful bacteria, such as fecal coliform or E. coli, showed up in any of the follow-up testing.

He said the coliform could mean there is a problem with the treatment or distribution system and that any new direction of water flow, such as the new water treatment plant on Neponset Street, could explain the issue.

“The new plant coming online forces the water to go in a new direction, which could be causing some of the problem,” Morton said.

Although testing in June showed very little coliform, more recent testing found bacteria in some of the water tanks. All the tanks are now being cleaned, drained and refilled, and hydrants are being flushed in the area where coliform is being detected.

Morton anticipates resolving the problem within two to three weeks. For more information, call 781-821-5017.

Town Administrator Bill Friel said the problem is not unique to Canton and occasionally happens during the summer months. Connolly said the water is perfectly safe to drink and is not related at all to last year’s boil water order, which was caused by contamination of a water tank due to an incomplete screen.

In other news:

* Trotta said repairs to the Reservoir Pond Dam are going so well that Pleasant Street may be open to full traffic after August 10 if progress continues to be made. Selectmen said they have received few complaints and complimented the DPW, fire and police departments for the signage of the project.

* Selectmen will likely send to the next town meeting a separate article for the cost of repairs to Shepard Pond Dam, estimated between $1.3 and $1.6 million. Trotta said breaching or decommissioning the dam would cost $2 million. Selectmen would like to repair the dam, and the DPW has completed 60 percent of the design work.

* Selectmen held a moment of silence for the passing of the 104-year-old grandmother of Selectmen Chairman Bob Burr, who was in Michigan attending the funeral.

* Selectmen will next meet on Tuesday, August 21.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Aug 8 2012. Filed under News, Schools, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.