MANSFIELD — A long and winding political road will begin moving underground in 2025 when the city begins the process of physically replacing aging four-inch water mains in Mansfield.
City Council on Tuesday evening approved the administration’s request to begin using $3.3 million in funding approved by voters in March that will replace 2.75 miles of the century-old pipes next year.
The quarter-percent municipal income tax, which will generate about $4.8 million annually, will be collected over the next four years, beginning in January. Revenues from the tax, which was pushed by a citizen initiative, can only be used for water main replacements.
City engineer Bob Bianchi said the timing of the tax collection will not allow for a larger project in 2025.
“Next year, we’ll have a larger program, certainly. And we’re learning along the way as we go,” he said.
It’s the start of a long-term process to replace 53 miles of of the smaller water lines with new eight-inch lines in the city. Officials have said it would take “about four cycles” of the four-year tax to replace them all.
Bianchi presented maps to local lawmakers, showing where the work is planned in 2025, a process that will start by seeking bids from contractors interested in the work.
“Our goal is to open bids in February and hopefully the contract will start in March or April. The project will be completed by the end of next September,” he said.
The citizen group that pushed for the levy, led by local attorney Eric Miller, said passing the water initiative was a matter of public safety.
There are 385 fire hydrants in Mansfield that cannot function properly due to old water lines, impacting 2,400 structures.
The work in 2025 would install 37 new hydrants and “reconnect” 246 local structures.
(Below are maps showing where watermains will be replaced in Mansfield in 2025. The story continues below the maps.)
“We’ll be interested to see how competitive this project is and what kind of costs come in. I’m excited for that — so we can plan even better next year,” the engineer said.
Council members asked how the various parts of the project would be communicated to local residents, above and beyond local media coverage.
“We’re looking at potentially some signage as well, at the front end of the streets … “Coming soon, provided by the Water Main Initiative, Water Main Replacement Project.’ We’re looking at that,” Bianchi said.
First Ward Councilwoman Laura Burns agreed.
“That would probably be good just because not everybody is reading the news and or getting the text alerts that come up,” she said.
It’s a massive project that almost didn’t materialize.
Miller’s citizen group promoted the idea and obtained enough signatures to put it on the ballot in November 2023. It failed narrowly with 5,865 voters against and 5,251 in favor.
A couple of weeks later, City Council denied the group’s request and voted 6-1 against putting it back on the March 2024 primary ballot. That would have required Miller’s group to hurry during winter months to try to get enough signatures to take another swing at the ballot box.
That decision didn’t rest well with a group of local residents who attended the Dec. 5 council meeting, including long-time local business owner Rick Taylor.
“Opposing the plan proposed by the Water Main Initiative (group) is not a plan. I’m anxious to hear what your plan is. Do you have one? If not, please vote to allow the Mansfield Water Main initiative on the (March) ballot,” said Taylor, a third-generation local entrepreneur.
“I think a ‘no’ vote sends a message that you do not care about our water infrastructure. It shows you do not care about our safety and it shows you do not care about the city of Mansfield. That’s my thought,” said Taylor, who owns the Hudson & Essex in downtown Mansfield.
Ultimately, lawmakers changed their mind on Dec. 5 and voted 6-2 to put the issue on the ballot again.
The issue was ultimately approved by voters in March — with 2,701 in favor and 2,604 against.
On election night in March, Mayor Jodie Perry said the levy’s passage is a step in the right direction.
“One round is not going to solve the whole thing, but it will get us significantly further down the road,” she said.
