Lenox Water Commission Must Decide Who Owns Rebuilt Interlaken Pump Station

LENOX — May 5, 2026 — Lenox Water and Sewer Commission weighs pump station ownership decision for Interlaken Road resort project. The commission spent the bulk of its May 5 meeting discussing infrastructure and regulatory requirements triggered by development activity at 35-37 Interlaken Road, where a special permit for a resort redevelopment was approved earlier this year. Water and Sewer Superintendent Mike told commissioners he consulted the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection on the day of the meeting and learned the town must choose between taking ownership of a rebuilt pump station — making the resort a direct Lenox water customer — or designating the property as a consecutive water system with its own licensed operator and monthly DEP compliance obligations, similar to Simon's Rock College's arrangement with Great Barrington. The existing six-inch main and small pump station cannot deliver the fire flows the redeveloped campus will need; commissioners agreed the most practical solution is a rebuilt domestic pump station combined with underground storage tanks and a dedicated fire pump on site, mirroring the setup at Monument Mountain school. If Lenox extends its ownership boundary to Sharp Corner on Tree Farm Road, as many as seven or eight additional residences could gain access to town water for the first time. Commissioners also reached informal consensus that sewer scoping work on the Interlaken line should be initiated before construction activity advances further.