If all the wastewater systems in Irasville and Waitsfield Village used a higher level of treatment versus a simple system, each system could treat five times the amount of wastewater.
That was one takeaway from a presentation to the Waitsfield Select Board by Jon Ashley of DuBois and King who presented an analysis the firm is conducting of existing water and wastewater conditions in Waitsfield at the board’s October 10 meeting.
Another takeaway from the firm’s report – called the 60% report because the study is 60% completed, is that there is a lot of funding available for towns to study, develop and fund wastewater systems including a 90% subsidy on construction costs of up to $3.9 million. After that there are community wastewater state revolving fund loans available at 0% interest and Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development Grants coming next spring.
Part of the analysis being conducted by DuBois and King is taking a look at the age and health of the existing wastewater systems. Ashley told the select board that there are 165 systems in the study area (which runs from the north end of Tremblay Road to Kingsbury Road) and of those 63.30% are older than 20 years old and almost 40% are older than 40 years old. He said that in Vermont septic system failures usually occur in 30-40-year-old systems. Of the 35 residences in the village 70% have septic systems older than 20 years. Of the nine businesses in the village, 42.9% are 40 years old.
Ashley detailed how private water and wastewater systems require well shields which limits people’s options when wastewater systems fail and need to be replaced. He explained that a push to get people throughout the study area to hook into the town’s municipal water system would free up significant wastewater capacity. That would require extending the water system south beyond The Eagles to Kingsbury Road.
The town commissioned the study in an effort to address infrastructure needs that may be impacting infill development as well as the development of housing. The town’s water and wastewater study committee will be holding a community meeting once the DuBois and King study reaches 90% completion. That meeting takes place October 26 in the Village Meeting Room at Waitsfield United Church of Christ at 6:3p.m. The 60% report is available on the town website along with the slides that Ashley presented this week.
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