Planning Board continues warrant hearing, presses solar firm on runoff
Pepperell Planning Board pushes zoning hearing to October, grills solar contractor over stormwater breach near town wells.
Planning Board · Meeting of September 8, 2026
Pepperell Planning Board pushes zoning hearing to October, grills solar contractor over stormwater breach near town wells. Members voted unanimously to continue the planning and zoning warrant articles hearing to October 5 over a posting issue, then spent most of the meeting on the Bemis Road solar project, where Department of Public Works Director Paul Bergman said an early-August storm dumping over four inches of rain in about three hours overwhelmed stormwater basins and sent untreated water toward the town's water treatment facility and drinking wells. Helios owner Kevin Cunningham and engineer Melinda Costello of Weston & Sampson told the board sediment forebay capacity near the town's Zone One wellhead area was increased roughly 1.3 times, from 96 to about 220 cubic yards, and that panel installation and seeding are proceeding in 20 percent sections.
"I don't think anything was going to hold up unless it was fully stabilized," Cunningham said. Chair Albert Patenaude declined to impose new conditions, and the board scheduled a site walkthrough for the first week of October.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 2,104 words
Source: the Planning Board meeting of September 8, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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