On the heels of a successful vote to advance a bond for municipal wastewater last week, the town of Waitsfield learned this week that it had been nominated for $7.5 million in Congressional Discretionary Spending (CDS) from Vermont’s Senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch.
On June 11, Waitsfield voters approved a $15 million bond for a wastewater system servicing Irasville and Waitsfield Village by a vote of 415 to 140. Throughout the planning process for the system and in the run up to the vote, the town has expressed confidence that state and federal funding sources could be found to fund most of the project and that long-term low-interest USDA loans would provide a $1.7 million shortfall if needed.
Municipal project manager Annie Decker-Dell’Isola said the town received word this week that Sanders’ office had nominated the town for $5 million in CDS and Welch’s office nominated the town for $2.5 million in CDS. She said the town had also applied to Representative Becca Balint’s office and had not heard back on that request.
“It’s not guaranteed, but it is great news,” Decker-Dell’Isola said, noting that the earmark needed to work its way through all the committees at the federal level.
The town also expects to qualify for state funding from several sources, including up to $6 million in a Village Wastewater/ARPA pollution control grant and up to $3.9 million in a USDA Rural Development grant.
The town’s eligibility for federal and state funding has been enhanced by the fact that the project is so far along in the planning process. The more shovel-ready such projects are, the greater the eligibility for some of the funding, in particular federal ARPA funds that need to be assigned by the end of 2024.
Waitsfield’s project is in the final design phase and the select board will discuss the engineering contract for that design process at its meeting on June 24. To date the town has qualified for reimbursable state grant funding for the feasibility study, preliminary engineering and now 30% of the final design process.
Next week, Decker-Dell’Isola and the wastewater project planning team will meet with the select board to discuss the transition from the 30% final design to the next phase, 60% final design, and the process for applying for further state funding for this next phase.
The select board is also working on hiring a new town administrator and a treasurer/grants administrator. The board is contracting with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT) to recruit a town administrator, for a fee of some $5,000 to $6,000. VLCT is running the search and reviewing candidates before the select board interviews them, with an eye to hiring by August.
Former treasurer and grant administrator Randy Brittingham is continuing to help the town as a contract employee after leaving last month. Select board chair Christine Sullivan said Brittingham is helping with year-end details – the town’s fiscal year ends June 30 and also continuing to work on administering town grants while his replacement is hired.
