How would you feel if after building a $27 million expansion to your home you were told the septic system “piping may not be installed according to plans” and is now is defective? Frustrated! Disappointed! How would you feel if the piping is underneath the building?

Superintendent Michaud distributed a memo last week detailing ongoing septic problems in the new high school that “may require significant corrective action.” In fact, the memo indicates the problem “first surfaced last fall with a sanitary backup in the waste lines in the new classroom first floor corridor.” A second backup occurred during the winter. Most recently, a third backup problem required Clean Harbors Environmental Services to remove four tons of waste from the system. Clean Harbors removed and packed the waste for disposal on May 18. EcoClean then documented “there are a number of sags and areas of standing water in the sanitary lines.” Under any standard of measurement, this issue is a major problem and corrective action will be extremely expensive.

This incident relates to the very concerns Councilor Messer and Councilor Patch brought before the Town Council last year with respect to the safety of our high school and to the integrity of the project’s quality. As a result of their initial questions, the School Board, administration and the project’s construction management team responded in great length to those claims, costing the district tens of thousands of dollars, even though photographs gave clear signs of problems. The Town Council, collectively, put faith in the School Board and administration to deal with the issue and was told time and again there was no problem; that our source of information was a disgruntled employee who had been fired, and that we were overstepping our responsibility. Yet, it is now obvious that problems do exist, to the extent that “may require significant corrective work.”

As community leaders, it is our responsibility to advocate for the long-term investments of citizens, our children and taxpayers. We must preserve the faith they have given us to make sound decisions, in making sure their money is wisely spent, and that the safety, health and welfare of their community is protected. As a former school board member, I understand, but I am concerned by the magnitude of the situation and the ramifications of the ancillary issues that impact our school community from this incident. Why was the school not evacuated? What measures were taken to ensure that methane and dioxin levels did not reach critical levels or compromise air quality? And, as importantly, why wasn’t our School Board notified of the incidences or provided details as to the magnitude of the problem? Why did it take council member questions, again, to draw out an explanation? Where was the School Board? Why was this not shared with the community?

We cannot put the concern for bad publicity over the health of our community. Given the School Board’s initial locally-funded $27 million for the high school and the current request for $54 million, trust is most important. I believe in order to rebuild that trust it requires an immediate and significant action that includes a focused look at how to correct the problem and not just clean up the mess. It is critical that we begin a dialogue with the school board to understand what the nature of the problem is in more detail and to find a workable solution that meets our community’s expectations. Otherwise, our problems after November will be far greater and irreversible. I will be asking the Council to take action and initiate that discussion immediately. I hope the School Board takes this opportunity to reach out and communicate more openly and does not simply revert to attacking a different councilor now asking more questions.