Littleton Conservation Commission Conditionally Approves Forge Pond Invasive Species Treatment for 2026

LITTLETON -- December 16, 2025, Littleton Conservation Commission conditionally clears Forge Pond invasive species treatment and fights to keep $158,000 in its budget. The commission voted unanimously at its December 16 virtual meeting to authorize herbicide and aquatic harvesting treatment at Forge Pond under MassDEP permit 204-872, contingent on the selected contractor presenting a formal work plan for commission review before any treatment proceeds in June 2026. Bidding on the combined Forge Pond and Spectacle Pond treatment contract is expected within a month, with $20,000 in CPC funding already requested. Member Ed Fultz pushed back against a Finance Department request to zero out a $158,000 lake management budget line, covering treatments at Forge Pond and Long Lake and associated planning, saying "I'm not comfortable with us taking on a commitment with no money allocated to it"; the board agreed to keep the line in the draft budget and let the Finance Department formally reject it. Separately, a continued hearing on a stormwater basin dispute at 240 King Street was carried to January 6, and Member Kyle Maxfield disclosed that Mill Pond has been selected as one of seven dams statewide for a state-funded dam removal feasibility study.