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DPW gets $127K to fix Whitehall Brook culverts

A DPW ecological restoration project funded by the state could repair culverts like this one near Well 1 on Fruit Street. PHOTO/NICK SCHOFIELD

A grant from the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Ecological Restoration will allow the Department of Public Works to continue a restoration project for Whitehall Brook.

“We’re very, very excited,” said DPW Director Kerry Reed.

The DER grant awarded the DPW $127,000 for Phase 2 of an ecological restoration project for Whitehall Brook. The project would repair and restore culverts that pass under Fruit Street. Phase 2 involves critical engineering and design work needed to move the project forward.

According to Reed, the culvert work has multiple benefits. First, it helps maintain valuable water resources on both sides of the culvert. Second, it would help improve flooding issues. Reed explained that one of the culverts will flood the road and back up almost to a nearby town well when there is a bad rainstorm.

‘We’re building resiliency in making it a better road and culvert for the future,” Reed added. “[The project] is an excellent opportunity to meet multiple objectives.”

This grant helps the DPW reduce the costs of culvert repair, which Reed noted is expensive. Her department received a similar grant from DER last year to start Phase 1 of the project, which involved field data collection.

While the selection process for the grant was competitive, Hopkinton had a leg up. The DPW offers the town’s culverts as sites DER can use for training. The town hosted a DER training in July attended by representatives of several other communities.

Reed explained that shortly after the most recent training, DER awarded Hopkinton the grant. “The training program is really what put us over the edge,” she said.

With the grant now in hand, Reed looks forward to moving the restoration project along. “We’re hoping we get more funding and keep continuing,” she said.

Latest News

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey’s office has stepped in to help Hopkinton High School teachers and other School Department employees with receiving their IRS tax refunds.

The latest Real Estate Transactions list shows three homes sold over the past week.

Town meetings tonight include the Economic Development Advisory Board (7).

Photo of the Day

Bollywood band Din Check performs Sunday at the Town Common in the final Concerts on the Common event of the summer.

PHOTO/JERRY SPAR