Ayer Awards $30,766 Pond Treatment Contract, Advances Two Wetlands Hearings

AYER — March 26, 2026 — Ayer Conservation Commission unanimously awards $30,766 pond treatment contract and continues two wetlands hearings. At its March 26 meeting, the commission awarded the 2026 aquatic invasive-plant control contract for Sandy Pond, Flanagan Pond, and Pine Meadow Pond to Water and Wetlands, the incumbent vendor, after receiving two bids; a competing bid from Solitude came in at $34,465 and left nutrient sampling — required under the request for proposals — as an additional cost. Conservation Agent Heather Hampson recommended Water and Wetlands as both the lower bidder and the more complete respondent, noting that even adding Solitude's supplemental nutrient-sampling fees the numbers do not favor the challenger. The commission also continued to April 9 a Notice of Intent hearing for Sawyer May, LLC's proposed cul-de-sac extension at Orion Park Drive — pending a Goddard Consulting report and Natural Heritage response — and opened and immediately continued a hearing on New England Power Company's maintenance and upgrade of three transmission lines along Westford Road, with Vice Chair Mark Phillips abstaining in a four-to-zero vote due to his National Grid employment. Hampson flagged that the Ayer Wetland Bylaw lacks explicit utility-maintenance exemption language present in state law, a gap that may require a fall town meeting warrant article to correct.