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.