NEW SALEM — The town is exploring low-interest loans to repair a well that regularly runs dry in the Stowell Building’s basement.
RCAP Solutions offers specialized loans and grants for rural homeowners, landlords and communities, and Town Coordinator Emily Hill said she is working with state Sen. Jo Comerford to help facilitate the process of getting one.
“I’ve gotten numbers all over the place for repairs. We’re probably looking at over $1 million,” Hill said. “Local contractors are significantly lower.”
The Stowell Building at 19 South Main St. houses the Selectboard office, the Board of Health, the Council on Aging and the Police Department. In fact, Hill explained, the shallow, hand-dug well is located in the Police Department’s evidence room.
“It is our most-used building,” she noted.
Hill, who started as town coordinator a year ago, said she has been told the well has had an issue with running dry for at least five years.
“There’s a pattern of this happening, and it’s getting worse and worse every year,” she said. “We lost [all] water for at least a couple of weeks this last fall.”
Hill also said this issue is likely made worse by climate change.
“[The well] is just old and it wasn’t built for the droughts that we’re seeing in a modern climate,” she commented. “A town our size (roughly 1,000 people) doesn’t have a huge lump of money to throw at municipal buildings.”
Comerford, D-Northampton, said she sympathizes with New Salem’s situation and that this problem is unacceptable.
“It’s outrageous, what New Salem is going through. First of all, New Salem is my hero for dealing with this,” she said. “The town is doing all the right things.”
Comerford said the town is the perfect candidate for a loan through RCAP Solutions.
“It’s critical,” she said.
