Amenities building heads to Town Meeting sans sewer solution
The building is Article 13 on this year’s Town Meeting warrant and would cost Acton taxpayers $1.42 million.
School officials are taking their Acton-Carlisle High School bathroom building plan to a Town Meeting vote.
But they still haven’t finalized where they’ll send the sewage if the building gets built.
The CCHS amenities building is Article 13 on this year’s Town Meeting warrant and would cost Acton taxpayers $1.42 million. (Carlisle would fund the rest.) At their most recent meeting, School Committee members said the focus should be on accessibility.
“We’re asking for an [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliant bathroom, period,” member Tracey Marano said.
Sudden questions
The amenities building would add 16 toilets at Memorial Field stadium. It would replace three portable toilets that officials say are out of step with the state plumbing code and the ADA. The problem is a decade old — major field renovations didn’t include bathrooms — and has sparked frustration between the School Committee and other panels over the past year.
Officials scrapped an initial $2.43 million proposal after pushback in 2024 and delivered a cheaper option last fall.
Select Board and Finance Committee members noted the lower price tag. But new questions mounted after an April 15 meeting where leaders realized they needed Public Works Commission approval to connect to the town’s sewer system.
Officials pleaded their case to the PWC earlier this month but left without a green light.
The commission generally reviews projects with more than 1,000 gallons of wastewater per peak day. Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Robert Conry said the school doesn’t expect to use “anywhere near” the 5,000 gallons that the Health Department projected for the amenities building.
Still, PWC members said they had to base their decisions on the number in front of them. They kicked the matter back to the Health Department.
As of May 22, town public health director Melanie Dineen said the schools hadn’t formally appealed the flow estimate.
Possible alternatives?
At the PWC, commissioners asked Conry and Gale Associates project manager Kyle Rowan why officials didn’t opt for composting toilets, which wouldn’t need a sewer hookup. Rowan said the option wouldn’t be ideal for busy days, such as graduation.
A septic tank would incur management and maintenance costs. Conry said a leach field, which filters wastewater into area soil, couldn’t easily fit around CCHS sports fields.
PWC chair Sven Weber acknowledged concerns around the ADA. But he flagged a federal limit on how much treated wastewater Acton processes and said the town has little room for growth.
Commissioner Andrea Solomon said the town could face a moratorium on all new sewer connections if it breaches the cap.
“I hate to make a decision today that looks really bad a few years from now,” she said.
Accessibility concerns
Late last month, CCHS School Committee chair Julie Viola said officials were “literally getting letters” describing people in wheelchairs being carried to a toilet. The Bridge requested copies of complaints sent to the district and did not receive the documents as of May 23.
At a May 20 School Committee meeting, Viola said many comments come through word of mouth rather than as formal complaints. She said word-of-mouth comments “should hold weight” and said she was frustrated when other boards sought formal complaints to bolster the case for bathrooms. K-8 School Committee chair Carrie Rankin said the question shouldn’t come down to complaints because state and federal law already requires bathrooms at the stadium.
“At this point, it’s up to the town,” Marano said. “… Are we a town that wants to make the town accessible or not?”
