The Water Pollution Control Commission is one step closer to choosing an appropriate parcel in town for a wastewater discharge treatment plan.

The Clinton Board of Selectmen (BOS) and Board of Finance (BOF) recently approved an appropriation of $418,971 to fund Amendment 7A. Due to the amount of the appropriation, which will come from the undesignated line item, a town meeting has been set for Wednesday, March 13 at 6:30 p.m. in the Town Hall auditorium.

If approved by qualified voters, the money will go toward three separate aspects of the project. WPCC Chairman Harold "Hal" Dolan explained what exactly Amendment 7A is.

"There are three tasks on 7A-one of them is to further either dig wells, test pits, or properties. Another is we are going to have to do pilot loading, which means we have to pump water onto two sites that we've already looked at for a period of about a month...to make sure that the soil will absorb the water if we use it going forward for leaching fields," Dolan said. "The third is to further investigate one other site that we're working on."

Clinton, like many other shoreline communities, has a water pollution problem that is not confined to one specific area, stating the problem is primarily due to localized septic issues in the ground, which are not being received well. The town faces a state mandate to address the issue.

For the past two years, the commission and representatives from engineering firm CDM Smith began surveying properties in town for a potential wastewater treatment plan.

Currently there are four possible sites in town that may be viable and a fifth that Amendment 7A would open for investigation.

A previously dismissed option has returned a last resort.

"The Hammonasset River is still on the table provided we cannot find a land solution for the wastewater and there are no other options," said Dolan.

Testing on the remaining lands may begin as early as the end of March, but the WPCC chairman said most of it most be completed during the spring weather because "that's when the water table is at its highest." Testing for Amendment 7A is anticipated to complete by June.

Of the $400,000-plus appropriated, 55 percent is reimbursable by the State of Connecticut.

The WPCC meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall.