Winthrop Revises Construction Plan, Will Not Shut Off Water For Residents
WINTHROP (CBS) -- The town of Winthrop announced Sunday night that it will no longer shut off water for residents during construction this week. On Friday, some Winthrop residents were notified that their water would shut off for eight hours for a value replacement project.
"Any notices received by residents last week pertaining to a scheduled water shut-down on April 7 should be discarded. The Town will provide uninterrupted water during all necessary infrastructure work," a statement said.
After an initial host of complaints lessened the impact of the project, the shutoff was still scheduled to begin Monday at 10 p.m. and go until 6 a.m.
"The COVID-19 public health crisis has required us to rethink so many aspects of our day-to-day lives, including many changes to day-to-day operations of the town. It was clear that we needed to step back and reconsider our approach to the water shutdowns associated with the Center Business District Infrastructure Project. Understanding the need at this critical time to maintain the ability to continually wash hands and sanitize, we worked with the Department of Public Works and our project partners to develop a new plan," said Town Manager Austin Faison in the statement.
A temporary water main "will be connected to some homes and buildings in the area to supply uninterrupted water service to residents and businesses" while the work continues.
Buddy Felt, a long time resident told WBZ-TV he doesn't know how the town was thinking about shutting water off with the coronavirus outbreak.
"The idea to shut water off when they're telling everyone to wash their hands every time they go to the restroom or every time they go outside and back inside, I don't even know how they were thinking of shutting the water off," said Felt.
Felt, who's also a plumber, says doing any kind of construction during COVID-19 is inappropriate. He called it putting productivity before people's health.
John Vitagliano, a community activist, said the work is not essential. He told WBZ the town has been talking about the project for seven years and can wait an additional few months.
"It would be nice and it ought to be done at some point. There's no reason the overall project couldn't be delayed for a while, at least until midsummer when the coronavirus peak is behind us," said Vitagliano.
The town begins phase one of the project on Tuesday. The project itself isn't scheduled to be completed until November 2021