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12.27.2001 13:56
Town awash in water troubles, honors WWII veterans
By LIZ ANDERSON
Journal Staff Writer
BURRILLVILLE
-- Bottled water became a necessity, not a luxury, for the people of Pascoag this fall as about 4,000 residents found themselves unable to drink from their taps.
The village's struggle with MTBE contamination of its wellfield thrust the western Burrillville hamlet into the headlines as it fell victim to what state officials have called one of the worst pollution problems ever in Rhode Island.
A filter system, intended to be a temporary measure, is working to strip the gasoline additive from the water supply and bring the chemical's levels down to more manageable levels.
But as 2002 dawns, Pascoag's best hope for clean drinking water appears to lie with wells just constructed at Eccleston Field by the neighboring Harrisville Fire District.
Harrisville officials have vowed not to open the flow to Pascoag until Pascoag residents agree to merge the two water districts. The Pascoag vote is expected next month.
Meanwhile, work continues to address the leak at the Main Street Mobil station -- believed to be the source of the wellfield contamination.
The state continues to install clean-up equipment at the station, including devices that will be brought in next month to treat groundwater there. Down the road, state officials expect to install a clean-up system at Pascoag's wellfield.
Officials say it could be three to five years before the wellfield is returned to a clean state.
Curiously, the head of the state board in charge of disbursing clean-up dollars for such spills is former state Rep. Vincent J. Mesolella Jr., one of the owners of the Pascoag Reservoir.
His company's fight over that water body's fate is another of the town's top stories in 2001 -- one yet to be resolved as the new year dawns.
In June, the state Supreme Court had the final say on the public's right to use a state boat ramp at the Glocester end of the manmade lake as an access point for recreation, such as fishing and boating.
But the reservoir's owners, Pascoag Reservoir & Dam LLC, took the fight to federal court. In a lawsuit filed mid-October, they argued the Supreme Court's ruling amounted to the state taking the property without compensation -- and asked for payment.
The state is seeking to have the case dismissed. A hearing on the matter has not been set.
Work to revitalize Pascoag's downtown, meanwhile, got a cash infusion in July, with the announcement of a $175,000 state grant to hire a downtown redevelopment coordinator and carry out a variety of projects, from building improvements to creating a parking area. The results of that Community Development Block Grant will be seen in the coming year.
Other Burrillville redevelopment initiatives are also taking shape. In 2001, the town completed a master plan for the Stillwater Mill in Harrisville that envisions potential uses from municipal offices to senior housing for the complex's decaying buildings. Town officials hope the plan lures private developers to the site.
A similar community study is planned for 2002 for the Route 102 corridor. A recently-named committee is expected to convene and, with the help of consultants and public input, draft a vision for how best to develop one of the town's busiest roads.
In the schools, building programs and space needs were some of the issues that took centerstage.
As the year ends, the town is putting the final touches on a two-year, $13.5-million renovation and expansion project at the high school. The project added a second floor to the building along with features like a 600-seat auditorium.
Both the building and the auditorium were dedicated last month at a graduation ceremony in which World War II veterans were awarded their high school diplomas. The new auditorium was named Veterans Memorial Auditorium in their honor.
Next up for the schools will be a look at the condition and future of William L. Callahan School, an evaluation of how and whether to expand the existing all-day kindergarten program at the Austin T. Levy School and a hard look at the town's deteriorating athletic fields.
Some long-percolating criminal investigations involving public officials also came to fruition in 2001 and will be the subject of ongoing court proceedings in 2002.
In federal court, former Burrillville School Supt. Robert Purcell and a woman alleged in court papers to be his former lover, Faith Fisher, face federal child pornography charges. Purcell and Fisher are accused of exchanging e-mails that included sexually explicit pictures of children. A jury is scheduled to be selected in the case Jan. 17, with the trial to follow.
In state court, Sandra Stone, the town's deputy treasurer, faces charges she embezzled about $66,000 from the town over an eight-year period. Stone pleaded innocent to the charges last month and is due back in court for a pretrial conference on Jan. 15.
A key witness against Stone, Finance Department aide Deborah Yasick, also found herself in trouble after being charged with filing a false document. Yasick, who has a prior embezzlement conviction in Massachusetts, is accused of misrepresenting her criminal history by indicating she had no felony convictions when she applied for her town post in 1993.
Yasick, who like Stone is suspended without pay from her post, is contesting the new charge and has indicated she may sue the town and Town Manager Michael Wood in Superior Court over the matter.
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