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Politics & Government

Oakland Street Coming Up Dry

Residents on Oakland Street may have to go without tap water for three days.

Residents in the Oakland Street area have until Monday to prepare for what could be three consecutive days of dry taps.

Town Manager Bill Ross announced at Wednesday's regular selectmen's meeting that the water department will be digging up and replacing a series of seven malfunctioning water line valves starting Monday.

The work will extend along the east side of Oakland from Charles Street to beyond Maple Street, and will impose periods of no running water from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oakland, Charles, Shields, Swett, Curtin, and Maple Streets, and a short stretch of Hope Street.

It is possible that the small neighborhood including Charles, Shields, and Swett Streets could be without water all three days of work, Sept. 12-14.

The written announcement by water department head Kurt Gaffney and Fire Chief Neal Boldrighini was passed out to the board members, who had received no warning the work was going to take place.

The precarious situation was discovered, said Gaffney in the memo, during "routine system maintenance," and is considered threatening enough to prompt immediate action.

"We have to get them done," said Ross. "We have breaks in that area."

The Oakland Street stretch, home to the now closed chocolate factory and extending into the town's first industrial park, is one of the oldest areas of town, and the original water system dates back about a hundred years in Mansfield.

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The oldest buried pipes and fixtures have been gradually replaced with new pipe, and leak detection has been ongoing for a number of years to stem the seepage of groundwater into the sewer system. This series of valves is so old that one of them is frozen shut.

Board member George Dentino suggested the water department find a way to rig a temporary system to run water to the many homes that will be affected, but Ross said, "There are no intermediate valves available to try and run hoses through the area," adding creating a system of hoses from another water source would be both time consuming and very difficult.

"They haven't been able to do that or they would," Ross said. "I do know Lee (Azinheria, DPW director) and his staff spent quite a bit of time trying to stage the construction."

To Dentino's further suggestion that the work be done at night, Ross responded, "This is the kind of work you want to do in the daylight." The valve replacement has to be done "in a hole" he said, and visibility is difficult enough even in the daytime.

There is the possibility that four valves will be replaced in one day instead of two, shortening the whole process by a day. But Gaffney emphasized in the memo that "the schedule is tentative subject to weather and unforeseen circumstances."

Ross said water tankers must be available at all times for fire response, as the water will be shut off to not only residences, businesses, and a restaurant, but two lumberyards.

Traffic along the busy route will not be interrupted, but may be slowed or temporarily detoured.

The DPW will hand deliver notices to customers who will be affected by the shutoffs, and the notice will be posted both on the local cable scroll and in local newspapers.

In addition, the notice is available on the town web site, www.mansfieldma.com.

Ross said maps of the work area for each day will also be posted on the site, under the section marked "Notices." Anyone with questions can contact the DPW water department at 508-261-7376.

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