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Scituate

Scituate Town Meeting votes to replace water treatment plant, repair lighthouse

Town Meeting approved raising property taxes to build a $50 million water treatment plant and spending $2 million in Community Preservation funds to restore the lantern room at the top of the iconic Scituate Lighthouse in Scituate Harbor.

The town-owned structure, built in 1811, is the 11th oldest lighthouse in the country.

The April 11 meeting also voted to demolish the town’s water treatment plant and replace it with a new facility.

About $5.3 million of the project’s cost will be paid from the American Rescue Plan Act. The rest will come from a debt exclusion — an increase in property taxes for the years it takes to pay off the debt.

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The town has estimated the cost to taxpayers of the average home assessed at $695,958 to be $255 a year for 30 years.

A proposal to permanently stop operation of Scituate Wind failed. But Town Meeting voted to curtail operation of the turbine on the Driftway from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. throughout the year.

The privately owned turbine, which supplies electricity to the town, had been shut down at night from April to October because of complaints from neighbors that the noise and flickering light adversely affected their health.

The year-round restriction will cost the town about $300,000 annually, officials said.

Johanna Seltz can be reached at seltzjohanna@gmail.com.