From left: John Potts of Weston & Sampson; David Boyer, Mass DEP; State Representative Jen Benson; Wayne Perry of Norfolk Ram Group; Chair of Town Center Sewer Building Committee Chris Ashley; Selectman Liaison Tim Clark; David Ankener of the State Revolving Fund; Jim Ricciardi, Ricciardi Bros., Inc; and Sewer Commissioner Cindy Russo pose in front of the water treatment plant on Massachusetts Avenue for the Oct. 26 groundbreaking ceremony for the new town center sewer. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)

State and local officials posed for photos around a silver shovel Wednesday morning to commemorate the start of construction on the $2.5 million town center sewer system that Town Meeting voters unanimously approved for a second time in August.

But the real digging was already under way a quarter-mile away on Pond Road, where, under gray skies, a bright yellow Hyundai Robex excavator was breaking through asphalt to open a trench for the low-pressure pipes that will serve the first five properties in the new sewer district.

The ceremony, hosted by Town Administrator Tim Bragan, took place at the town's troubled Massachusetts Avenue (Route 111) wastewater treatment plant, which is scheduled for a major upgrade this winter. Among the two dozen attendees was state Representative Jennifer Bensen, who helped win passage in the Massachusetts House of Representatives of the town bylaw needed to establish a Harvard sewer district.

"I was happy to do it," she told the gathering, to applause. "Harvard is a wonderful town to work with. Although we think it always takes longer than it should, it did get done. I hope it leads to many good things to come."

State Senator Jamie Eldridge, who was equally instrumental in getting the legislation through the State Senate, was unable to attend, but other speakers included David Ankener and Dave Boyer of the Department of Environmental Protection, Chris Ashley, chairman of the current sewer building committee, and Selectman Tim Clark, longtime liaison to a succession of sewer committees.

Selectmen Marie Sobalvarro, Ronald Ricci, and Peter Warren also attended the ceremony.

Clark told the gathering he had first become aware of the need for a sewer for the center of town more than 20 years ago when he read a 1985 report by the League of Women Voters, which "recognized that this was an issue to be solved."

The problem "had already been on the radar easily 20 years before then."

"There have been starts and stops along the way," he added. "The result is something we're all excited to see."

Pond Road is first

Meanwhile, the work itself—originally planned for April, then this summer, and then September—is underway at last. The first crew from Ricciardi Brothers, the general contractor for the project, arrived early Monday morning and by afternoon had spray-painted Pond Road, Fairbanks Street, and parts of Littleton Road with dashed lines to mark the routes of the low-pressure, small diameter pipes that will be laid there. The crew also began grinding down the asphalt surface along Pond Road to ease the way for an excavator.

Behind the scenes, a working group of more than a dozen town officials, department heads, engineers, and contractor representatives has been meeting weekly since the beginning of the month to review progress. There were no issues this week and Ron Ferraiulo, project manager for Ricciardi, told the group Wednesday morning that he expects his crew to finish laying pipe on Pond Road by the end of next week, Nov. 4, including installation of the t-connections for the homes on the street.

Next up will be the laying of so-called force mains, which will run from Pond Road under the parking lot behind the public library to a new pump station, where they will connect to the existing sewer line that carries wastewater from Bromfield to the Massachusetts Avenue treatment plant. A force main is a larger pipe that gathers waste from the smaller lines connected to district homes and businesses and then, by means of pump stations, pushes it elsewhere for treatment. Ferraiulo said his company planned to finish the work on school property by Nov. 7, after which the action will move to Fairbanks Street.

The goal, project managers say, is to finish work before the snow flies on roads important to the flow of traffic to the schools. Replacement of the pump station at Hildreth Elementary School and installation of the new pump at Bromfield will take place during school vacation in February. Work on the wastewater plant is scheduled for January.

"Bragan has promised us that there will be no snow this winter," Ferraiulo told the Press with a smile. "We're going to hold him to that."

Back at the ground-breaking ceremony, Bragan left the last word to building committee chairman Ashley, who has served on at least four Harvard sewer committees.

"It's been a process for the community to look at what the options are, then for everyone to get comfortable [with a solution]," he said. "It's remarkable to see everything actually occurring. To have a Special Town Meeting with a vote on money and to have an action taken unanimously speaks to the community's involvement. It's great that we're starting and just a reflection of the community working together and coming up with a solution that people could get behind."