Waitsfield was able to successfully demonstrate that the median income in the Waitsfield and Irasville Village areas was less than the state median income and in doing so, the town will qualify for a subsidy to cover a portion of the next steps towards final design of a municipal wastewater system.
The town worked with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation to demonstrate that median income in those village areas -- which the proposed wastewater system will serve -- was $32,000 per year in the last federal census. That compares to the statewide median income of $66,000 and the overall Waitsfield median income of $77,000.
With median income in what is called a ‘census designated place’ (CDP) at that level, the town will qualify for a Clean Water State Revolving Fund forgivable loan to fund the first 30% of the final design. Historically the forgivable loans have been $125,000.
The service area for the proposed wastewater system aligns with the CDP with 187 potential users of the system having median household incomes of $32,000 and one potential user higher than that median household income.
This year the town completed a preliminary engineering report (PER) that followed a year-plus feasibility study. The report and the study led the town to preferred options that call for a tertiary treatment facility to be constructed on the town-owned Munn parcel, south of Irasville, across from the Valley Professional Center and the Valley Animal Hospital.
Wastewater would be piped from the service areas to the treatment facility. The town is working maximizing the disposal capacity at the field by treating and disposing of only liquids while having solids stored in neighborhood tanks in the service area. The solids would be pumped regularly and disposed of in larger municipalities. That would also lessen the expense as a small pipe could be used to move the liquids to the field.
The estimated cost of the wastewater system is $15.6 million, and it will be able to handle about 84,000 gallons per day. That disposal ability will provide the town with the capacity to provide wastewater to users in the service areas as well as provide capacity for 35 one- and 35 two-bedroom dwelling units in the service area with additional capacity to accommodate 8% growth in commercial usage in those areas.
Having qualified for the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund grant to begin final design, the town enters the final design phase which has 30, 60 and 90% completion benchmarks and the town should qualify for the forgivable subsidy for each of those phases.
To get this far in the planning process, Waitsfield has received $199,418 to study the feasibility of municipal wastewater and to undertake the PER. Both of those loans have been forgiven by the state.
The town is continuing to work on funding options for the system and applied for several grants earlier this year, but did not receive them. This spring, Waitsfield was invited to apply for $10.4 million in congressional appropriations from Senator Bernie Sanders’ office and invited to apply for a $3 million grant through the Northern Borders Regional Commission Catalyst Program. Planners remain confident that as the project enters final design and becomes more shovel ready, that state and federal funding will become available.
