Weston water tank group sends OPM RFQ to five firms, extends response window

WESTON — February 12, 2025 — Weston advances OPM hiring while state low-interest loan slips out of reach. The Select Board's Water Tank Project working group on Feb. 12 directed Town Manager Leon to release a request for qualifications to five engineering firms — Apex, Haley & Ward, Stantec, Tighe & Bond, and Weston & Sampson — with a Friday deadline rather than the originally proposed Feb. 25 cutoff, and dropped the staff-hours estimate from the response after engineer Judy Nitsch warned firms are "really busy right now." Select Board Chair Lise N. Revers pushed to clarify that the immediate need is design review, not construction management: "We don't need a construction guy wandering around at this point." On financing, Weston's $43.4 million project scored 427 on the State Revolving Fund draft list, below the roughly $100 million PFAS-dominated funding cutoff; conventional 3.5 percent municipal borrowing would add about $6.2 million in interest over 30 years. The group also authorized starting parcel appraisals ahead of the March 12 Special Town Meeting.