Freetown Conservation Commission opens hearing on 15,300-foot sewer expansion project

FREETOWN — December 9, 2024 — Freetown Conservation Commission unanimously advances sewer expansion permitting along South Main Street corridor. Andrew Groa, project manager with Apex Companies, presented a Notice of Intent for roughly 15,300 feet of new gravity and low-pressure sewer piping, plus two pump stations at 23 Alexandria Drive and 4 South Main Street, designed to extend service from the Assonet Pole Corners area to Narrows Road and ultimately convey wastewater to Fall River for treatment under an existing intermunicipal agreement. The commission continued the hearing to January 27 at 6 p.m. at the Freetown Police Station to allow conservation agent Adeline Belim to complete a wetlands delineation review with the project team. Groa noted the project has no grant funding yet and that 23 Alexandria Drive, currently under a tax lien, must be acquired by the town before construction can begin. The commission also voted unanimously to issue certificates of compliance closing out two South Coast Rail orders — SE 26-612 and SE 26-613 — and approved a septic upgrade at 44 Elm Tree Drive without requiring compensatory flood storage, accepting the engineer's argument that the site has never experienced flooding despite lying within a mapped FEMA flood zone.