Malaguti Addresses Water Line at Library Gathering

Town Manager, Mike Malaguti, held an informal Town Hall at the Leach Library on July 16 to update residents on ongoing initiatives in Londonderry.
It was the second session overseen by Malaguti.
“A lot of the opportunity we have to interact with the public occurs at Town Council meetings in the public comment. That’s important, and it has a role, but it’s really not conducive for in-depth conversations or back-and-forth,” he explained. “That’s why these events are so important.”
A highlight of the event was an update on Londonderry’s ongoing water project designed to address PFAS contamination from the Saint-Gobain Plastics plant.
“We’ve recently been able to secure an $8 million grant to secure some money that was approved overwhelmingly by the votes this past March,” said Malaguti. “That’s one of the most important issues going on the Londonderry.”
Unsurprisingly, the money was committed to extensions to the public water systems and PFAS clean-up efforts. One attendee noted Saint-Gobain was “gone” from the state, leaving unanswered questions on an expected payout to the town.
Town officials are still “negotiating with Saint-Gobain,” although the Town Manager could not give many details before those negotiations concluded. There was also concern about what “Plan B” was if Saint-Gobain failed to follow through and settle with Londonderry.
“Plan B is that by ourselves, without Saint- Gobain’s money, we can run 15,000 linear feet of water main down High Range Road. That is a significant water infrastructure project that will allow us to remediate and hook into people with contaminated wells in this area,” said Malaguti.
While he was confident the negotiations would bear fruit, there was a lot of skepticism, along with a call for greater transparency and better long-term planning on the water issue, especially when working with water providers like Pennichuck.
“Even though Londonderry has sufficient money to move forward, Londonderry is not going to go out and start digging the trenches and putting pipes in the ground. We have to work with Pennichuck Water, Manchester Water, and with the money that we have we have the ability to do that,” Ray Breslin, from the Utility Committee. “However, we have to have that discussion with Pennichuck Water to make sure that they are onboard, because they are our key.”
Martha Smith, another member of the Utilities Committee, encouraged anyone with questions to come to their public meetings, as that Committee oversees much of the planning for the new water system.
“The CEO and several other people from Pennichuck are scheduled to come to our next meeting,” she said. “If you’re interested in water issues, please come to the meeting on August 6.”
The Committee meets at Town Hall at 7 p.m.
Smith hoped to gain more information from the company on its projects. She planned to address concerns about the lack of service around Russ Drive, which is not covered by the existing Consent Decree with Saint-Gobain.