West Cornwall sewer project testing, surveying resumes

Members of the Wastewater Management Project in West Cornwall Village Construction Committee identified the lot between the post office and the design studio as a feasible location for the treatment plant more than two years ago.

Riley Klein

West Cornwall sewer project testing, surveying resumes

CORNWALL — Ground testing and surveying around the site of the proposed wastewater treatment center in West Cornwall resumed in November.

WMC Engineers, a consulting firm working with the town on the project, began boring the areas where sewer lines could be located this month. The plans were discussed at a meeting of the Wastewater Management Project in West Cornwall Village Construction Committee Nov. 12.

The proposed site of the treatment plant is in the rear of the plot between the post office and the design studio on Route 128 in West Cornwall.

WMC bored the property in 2023 and found the land feasible for the project. The private landowner has verbally agreed to allow the town to build the treatment plant on the property, likely through an easement and long-term lease.

WMC Engineer Steve McDonnell said the 2024 surveyors are looking for bedrock beneath roads in the service area and will only be drilling about six feet deep.

“The sewers are very shallow,” said McDonnell, noting the proposed low-pressure system allows for “small diameter” piping.

The WMC crew is using a truck-mounted drilling rig “on the state route (128) and also a couple of the side roads in the service area,” said McDonnell.

WMC’s survey is expected to be completed by December and will gauge the total amount of ground material that needs to be removed for the project. Once determined, design of the treatment plant and piping network can begin.

McDonnell estimated the designs will be finalized by spring 2025. The permitting process that follows will take an additional six to nine months before construction can begin. “I’m excited to get this thing moving ahead,” said McDonnell.

Latest News

All are welcome at The Mahaiwe

Paquito D’Rivera performs at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington on April 5.

Geandy Pavon

Natalia Bernal is the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center’s education and community engagement manager and is, in her own words, “the one who makes sure that Mahaiwe events are accessible to all.”

The Mahaiwe’s community engagement program is rooted in the belief that the performing arts should be for everyone. “We are committed to establishing and growing partnerships with neighboring community and arts organizations to develop pathways for overcoming social and practical barriers,” Bernal explained. “Immigrants, people of color, communities with low income, those who have traditionally been underserved in the performing arts, should feel welcomed at the Mahaiwe.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Living with the things you love:
a conversation with Mary Randolph Carter
Mary Randolph Carter teaches us to surround ourselves with what matters to live happily ever after.
Carter Berg

There is magic in a home filled with the things we love, and Mary Randolph Carter, affectionately known as “Carter,” has spent a lifetime embracing that magic. Her latest book, “Live with the Things You Love … and You’ll Live Happily Ever After,” is about storytelling, joy, and honoring life’s poetry through the objects we keep.

“This is my tenth book,” Carter said. “At the root of each is my love of collecting, the thrill of the hunt, and living surrounded by things that conjure up family, friends, and memories.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Beloved classic film ‘The Red Shoes’ comes to the big screen for Triplex benefit
Provided

On Saturday, April 5, at 3 p.m., The Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington and Jacob’s Pillow, the dance festival in Becket, Massachusetts, are presenting a special benefit screening of the cinematic masterpiece, “The Red Shoes,” followed by a discussion and Q&A. Featuring guest speakers Norton Owen, director of preservation at Jacob’s Pillow, and dance historian Lynn Garafola, the event is a fundraiser for The Triplex.

“We’re pitching in, as it were, because we like to help our neighbors,” said Norton. “They (The Triplex) approached us with the idea, wanting some input if they were going to do a dance film. I thought of Lynn as the perfect person also to include in this because of her knowledge of The Ballets Russes and the book that she wrote about Diaghilev. There is so much in this film, even though it’s fictional, that derives from the Ballets Russes.” Garafola, the leading expert on the Ballets Russes under Serge Diaghilev, 1909–1929, the most influential company in twentieth-century theatrical dance, said, “We see glimpses of that Russian émigré tradition, performances we don’t see much of today. The film captures the artifice of ballet, from the behind-the-scenes world of dressers and conductors to the sheer passion of the audience.”

Keep ReadingShow less