Hopedale Pond

By Theresa Knapp 

The Hopedale Select Board has accepted a $38,500 donation from the Hopedale Foundation to fund the Hopedale Pond Dredge Feasibility Evaluation Proposal. 

This donation, which was accepted at the board’s Aug. 1 meeting, was the result of a request from the Conservation Commission for funds “to hire an engineering and environmental firm to conduct an assessment of Hopedale Pond to determine a proper course of action to restore the Pond’s ecological, environmental, and recreational value,” according to a letter dated July 29, 2022, from the Hopedale Foundation to the Select Board. 

The letter also says the town “will receive reimbursement for the project from the state, however the reimbursement will be made sometime in late fall or winter. Having the assessment performed now will save substantial time in the completion of the entire project.” 

In February, the town received a contract for services from Tighe & Bond, environmental specialists in Worcester, after the firm conducted a drone flight of the pond in late January. That proposal includes project scoping, due diligence review and sediment sampling plan, conceptual drawings, dredging alternatives and opinion of probable cost, permitting and scheduling, and an optional preliminary sediment sampling.