A long-planned improvement to the infrastructure at the Town of Bedford Compost and Recycling Center took a step closer to fruition on June 12 with the approval of a wetlands protection variance by the Bedford Conservation Commission.
The commission’s vote will streamline construction of a salt storage building at 108 Carlisle Road. The variance allows work closer than 25 yards from a wetland boundary, allowed under the wetlands protection bylaw because the project has a significant public impact.
Jesse O’Donnell, civil engineer with the firm Weston & Sampson, told the commission at a recent virtual meeting that the variance will facilitate installation of treatment for stormwater and drainage associated with the construction.
“We are not proposing to directly impact the wetlands,” he stressed, but approval from the commission is needed for work within the 25-, 50-, and 100-foot wetland buffer zones.
About $630,000 was approved at the 2023 Annual Town Meeting for project design of the site master plan for 108 Carlisle Road, which for decades was the town dump, more recently the sanitary landfill, and is now the Department of Public Works Recycling and Composting Center.
DPW Director David Manugian explained after the meeting that the original intent was to fund the construction of everything related to the property in one large project: the salt shed, a storage garage, a vehicle wash bay, and a reconfigured recycling center.
“However, project costs have increased to the point where other town priorities superseded the full master plan buildout, and the focus changed to replacing the salt shed,” Manugian continued. “As we go through permitting, we’re updating our cost estimate.”
He added that a placeholder for the building is in the capital plan for fiscal year 2026, “and additional funds for constructing this first phase, if needed, will be requested in that year.”
Kristin Dowdy, the DPW’s environmental engineer, referenced the long-range picture when speaking to the Conservation Commission. “We are working our way from the far end of the site back toward the entrance,” she said, and one goal is “increasing access to the public for recycling.”
The area at 108 Carlisle Road is “an upland island surrounded by wetland,” O’Donnell said, which means plans for improvements are “very restricted by the amount of land they have to work with.” From an environmental standpoint, he said, the drainage and stormwater changes will be “a huge improvement.”
O’Donnell told the commission that plans call for removal of the current salt shed as well as an adjacent materials storage building. As part of the project, he noted, two stockpile areas, one for soil and the other for equipment, will be relocated and those areas revegetated, “a reduction of impervious area relative to existing conditions.” There will be a paved area around the building.
The planned salt storage shed, 40 feet tall, was described as a “high-arch gambrel wooden structure.” The facility will include space for equipment and gravel storage. O’Donnell said the upgrade will result in “an overall improvement in the Department of Public Works’ winter weather response.”
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