BURRILLVILLE – In 2020, members of the Burrillville Town Council approved a plan to borrow $1.8 million from the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank to finance repairs needed at the Harrisville Pond Dam. At the time, the roughly 160-year-old structure was leaking, with large sinkholes developing in an area by the Assembly Theatre.
Town officials worked quickly to remedy the danger and soon after, to submit design plans for a larger dam rehabilitation project to state and federal authorities for approval.
But the permitting has taken time, and when the project finally went out to bid in February, the cost had escalated closer to $3.4 million.
“This project is many years old now,” Town Manager Michael Wood told members of the Town Council at their meeting on Wednesday, March 12. “When we were initially cited for problems at the dam, we went right out and started to find the engineering that we needed to get the solutions to it. Unfortunately, the cost of this has gone up extraordinarily higher than we anticipated.”
“Now we have to go out and get more money which will go against our debt service,” said Wood. “It’s going to have an impact on our budget.”
Built in 1857 at a cost of $6,000, the 140-foot-long, 18-foot-high granite and cement structure known as Harrisville Dam was considered one of the best built in Rhode Island at the time, according to historians.
In 2019, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management notified town officials of the need for repairs to the East Avenue dam following an inspection.
In the five years since, town officials have sought approval of the rehab plan with the Army Corp of Engineers and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, among others.
A memo on the project to Wood from Finance Director Leslie McGovern and Public Works Director Jeffrey McCormick notes that the 2020 estimated cost for completion of the project was $1,800,000, and RllB issued a loan for the amount on April 15, 2021.
“The cost to complete the remainder of this project is $3,455,567,” the memo notes. “There is an additional $1.747 million of funding needed.”
The pair notes that the project should qualify for one third off the town’s market rate for borrowing.
“This is a low interest bond issue,” said Wood. “We think this is the correct way to go.”
“Just the reality of life is, in four or five years, we’re seeing everything’s double,” said Councilor Dennis Anderson. “It wasn’t our fault this thing got strung up, but we are where we are.”
“Any chance of billing the federal government for the increase?” joked Councilor Stephen Rawson.
“This has been going on for a very long time,” Rawson added. “It took a long time to figure out what was going on.”
Rawson noted that Austin T. Levy who had a mill removed from the area years ago because it was blocking the view of the pond. A secondary gate, left behind from the mill had begun to rot, which is what caused the initial leak.
“They finally found it after divers went down,” Rawson said. “They sandbagged it – controlled the leak – but it’s still not a good situation. That’s how we got to where we are today.”
McGovern noted that if approved, the town’s request for additional financing would be taken up at a board meeting for the Infrastructure Bank on Monday, April 14.
Councilors voted unanimously to approve a bond resolution for additional financing of $1.8 million.
What a catostrophic clown show this town council is. Good thing we spent millions of ARPA funds on a football field that no one wants. Money that could have went to fixing this dam.
Now we’re taking out yet another loan. We have an unfinished football field for a school district that’s hemoraging students and teachers. Great job!