Littleton Board of Health Approves Middlesex Street Septic Variances, Continues Two Other Hearings

LITTLETON — February 14, 2024 — Littleton's Board of Health approved a septic system upgrade for 18 Middlesex Street and continued two other hearings at its February 14 meeting, while flagging a positive PFAS detection in groundwater at 55 White Street. The board, chaired by Dan Dowd, voted 4-0 with one abstention to approve variances for an 18 Middlesex Street failing septic system — including a reduction in groundwater offset from four feet to two feet and authorization of a Jet J500 secondary treatment unit — after engineer Chris Stoddard addressed prior concerns raised by the board. A shared sewer agreement for 23-31 Stephen Street, submitted by attorneys for Thumbtack Realty, was continued to February 28 after the proposed agreement arrived by email just eleven minutes before the meeting. A variance motion for 16 Cedar Street failed 3-1 after the board found that an engineer's revised plans, submitted the afternoon of the meeting, had not been reviewed by Health Agent Jim Greffy and contained an unlisted sieve-analysis variance request. Dowd said the board would explore a formal pre-meeting submission deadline modeled on the 48-hour open meeting law posting requirement, noting the recurring pattern was "no one's best work." Dowd also disclosed that a formal offer had been made to Francis Daigle, currently the Nashoba regional health district director, for the open health director position, with acceptance pending.