The Waitsfield Select Board voted to move forward with the next phase of designing a municipal wastewater system for the town this week when the board voted to support the recommendations in the 90% wastewater preliminary engineering report (PER) from engineers at Dubois and King.
The motions included authorizing the town’s wastewater planning teams to draft a 30% design engineering services agreement with Dubois and King that includes an application to the state’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund for funding to cover the 30% of a design for a municipal wastewater system.
The board took that action at its June 5, 2023, meeting when board members also approved plans for its wastewater project teams to continue exploring self-funding options for connecting people to the town’s municipal water system. That is one part of a two-pronged approach to municipal wastewater in the Irasville and Waitsfield Village areas.
The second prong is what engineers are now going to be engineering -- a decentralized tertiary treatment facility at the town-owned Munn field south of Irasville.
84,000 GALLONS PER DAY
Last week the board heard from the wastewater project planning team that that site could accommodate 84,000 gallons per day of wastewater and that it could provide enough capacity for properties within the service area (Irasville and Waitsfield Village areas) as well as for 70 new units of infill development in the service area plus enough capacity for 8% growth in existing and new commercial flows.
At this week’s meeting members of the project planning team, including select board member Chach Curtis, town administrator Annie Decker-Dell’Isola and Joshua Schwartz, executive director of the Mad River Valley Planning District, explained the priorities that the PER identifies for which properties in the service area to be able to connect to the decentralized wastewater system.
Priority for connection will be given to properties with wastewater systems that are older than 40 years, those that are in the flood plain or river corridor and those whose wastewater systems encroach on well shields. Some properties meet more than one of those criteria.
Estimated costs for this system are $15,657,700 and the cost of connecting all properties in the service areas to the town water system is $1,071,000. To date all of the town’s feasibility study and preliminary engineering work has been covered by forgivable state loans of $199,000. Senator Bernie Sanders has recommended that $10.4 million in congressional direct spending be allocated for the project and the town has been invited to apply for an additional $3 million from the Northern Borders Regional Commission Catalyst program.
“Our goal is to secure grants and loan funding for this project so that we have a user rate that is comparable to the Waitsfield water system,” Decker-Dell’Isola said this week.
SEEK STATE FUNDING
Going forward, the engineers and planning team recommend that the town seek state funding from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund as a phase by phase basis as the engineers complete 30, 60 and 90% of the final design for the system. Those costs will come to $709,300 and the town can apply for up to $125,000 for at least the first 30% phase and possible the 60% phase depending on state funding. The town also has $170,000 in unallocated ARPA funds that can be used for the project.
The project team leads fielded questions from the board and other present at the meeting and via Zoom. Some questions were about when the 30% report would be complete and Schwartz said he’d like to hear from the engineers on that. He said he’d expect a lot of the work to happen in the fall and said that to get ready for a fall 2024 vote, a lot of work needs to be done.
“We’re talking about a bond vote in the fall of 2024,” Curtis said.
“So, a March 2024 vote is off the table?” asked board chair Christine Sullivan to which Schwartz said the goal was to be ready for a November 2024 vote.
Board member Fred Messer praised the project planning team for their leveraging every grant possibility that is out there and asked whether this week’s motions committed any town funds. He was told they did not.
Town resident Pete Reynells asked why Old County Road was not included in the service area and Schwartz said that the village and Irasville are where the Town Plan and zoning regulations call for the most dense development.
“That doesn’t preclude future expansion of the system. It’s not on the table right now, but that doesn’t preclude it from happening,” Schwarts said.
Former select board member Sal Spinosa asked to clarify that the two things under consideration were working to connect people in the service area to town water (those who aren’t connected) and developing a tertiary treatment system at the Munn field. He was told that was the case.
After the wastewater discussion, the select board confirmed for a VTrans contractor Theron Matthews of McFarland Johnson, that the town does want to proceed with a study of alternatives for the Route 17/100 and Bragg Hill intersection that focuses on pedestrian safety, vehicular safety and stormwater management.
