For Wareham, 2012 is looking to be a year of big changes and big decisions. By this time next year, Main Street will likely have a completely new look, industrial wind turbines may be under construction on cranberry bogs, and Walmart may be well on its way to opening in West Wareham and closing in East Wareham. This week, as the new year approaches, we take a look at some of the changes and decisions facing the town.

Bog Wind

The public comment period for the controversial, twice-scaled back Bog Wind proposal officially closed this month. The Zoning Board of Appeals has 90 days from that time to review the record and publicly deliberate to render a decision on whether the project will be allowed to move forward.

Bog Wind, first introduced by Boston-based Beaufort Windpower LLC in 2010, originally proposed the construction of eight wind turbines on five Wareham cranberry bogs. The bogs are privately owned and operated by cranberry growers who will allow Beaufort Windpower to build the turbines on their land.

After residents raised concerns about quality of life during a series of Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board public hearings, the plan was reduced to six turbines on five bogs, and later reduced to two turbines on three Charge Pond Road cranberry bogs. The height of the turbines and length of the blades were also reduced.

The future of the project was up in the air after Town Meeting in May voted to repeal a bylaw that allowed wind energy facilities. On June 8 of this year, the Zoning Board of Appeals voted to postpone the ongoing public hearing on the project until the Attorney General could review Town Meeting’s decision and determine whether it would affect Bog Wind. It ultimately determined that it would not.

Walmart move

Walmart’s proposal to construct a new, larger store in West Wareham and vacate its current East Wareham building has been controversial since it was first proposed in 2010. The public hearing continues in 2012.

The plan to build a new 152,124-square-foot facility at the corner of Tobey Road and Cranberry Highway has raised many concerns among residents, from environmental impact to traffic issues.

Walmart representatives say that the store is moving so that it can offer a full line of groceries. Although the retailer owns its East Wareham location, the move is necessary because a restriction on the property prevents the store from selling meat, fish, and produce, and from operating as a bakery, deli, or supermarket in competition with the adjacent Stop & Shop.

After hearing a traffic study regarding the project this month, the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Board agreed to reconvene the public hearing in another joint meeting on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m.

Nitrogen public hearing

A Board of Health public hearing to address proposed regulations to reduce nitrogen flow into Wareham’s waterways was postponed in October after hundreds of residents filled the Town Hall auditorium above its capacity.

The public hearing will continue in 2012, but a new date has not been set.

The new regulations are intended to reduce nitrogen by requiring that failed septic systems be replaced with systems that meet a nitrogen limit of 12 mg/L. Additionally, the regulations would allow the Board of Health to charge residents who replace their system an annual monitoring fee for two years following the installation.

The regulation would not require that owners of homes with working septic systems complete an upgrade unless they planned to expand their property and increase their wastewater.

In addition to septic systems, nitrogen pollution comes from fertilizer used on lawns, in cranberry bogs, on golf courses, etc. It’s a problem because when nitrogen enters the waterways, it causes invasive species such as algae to grow. Those invasive species then use up all of the oxygen, which causes fish and shellfish to die.

Who pays for stalled sewer project?

The Board of Selectmen will likely decide who should pay for a halted sewer project in the Agawam Beach and Mayflower Ridge neighborhoods in 2012.

The project, which would extend sewer service to the two neighborhoods, was indefinitely postponed in June after its high cost and environmental concerns prompted vigorous opposition.

However, the Selectmen’s decision to effectively cancel the project came after half a million dollars had been spent on design and other work needed to put the project out to bid. Had the project gone forward, those costs would have been born by residents of Agawan Beach and Mayflower Ridge as part of their sewer “betterment” fees paid after completion of the project.

It is now unclear whether those residents will still have to pay, whether the costs will have to be absorbed by current sewer users, or something completely different.

The matter got Selectmen’s attention in early November when a $25,000 piece of the larger cost appeared on the board’s list of bills to pay. The board said it would discuss the matter at a later meeting. It is unclear when that discussion will occur.

Main Street “streetscape” improvements

Work on an $800,000 project aimed at beautifying Main Street began in November.

Phase 1 of the project will focus on the stretch of Main Street from the Post Office to Center Street and will involve repaving; creation of “bump out” curbing to accommodate additional trees, benches and trash receptacles; replacement of the existing streetlight poles with new lights designed to look like old-fashioned globe lights on cast-iron poles; and redesign of two alleys connecting Main Street to Merchants Way.

The most intensive work will be completed this spring.