Moretown is returning a $3.35 million state grant the town received to design and construct a municipal wastewater system in the village, following challenges in locating a suitable site.
Although the town heard from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources that it was not on track to receive the grant as of March, the Moretown Select Board will be sending a formal grant cancellation letter to the state.
For the past year or so, the town’s Clean Water Committee has been working with Middlebury-based Otter Creek Engineering and the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation to locate a site for the project and work on different design options.
They tested four sites; however, based on soil samples, none of those sites were feasible.
These sites were located behind Moretown Elementary School, at Pony Hill Farm and in the easement of a Moretown town forest parcel off South Hill Road.
The cost of the engineering work was $92,000, which was paid for with a zero-interest loan from the state, according to Clark Amadon, who has been heading development of the project through the town’s Clean Water Committee.
“It’s regrettable we are unable to move forward,” Amadon said.
Moretown was among 13 Vermont towns to receive funding from the state’s Village Water and Wastewater Initiative (VWWWI) in 2022, about a year after the town started discussing the project. The funding comes from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and is designed to help municipalities develop new public drinking water systems and community wastewater disposal systems where such infrastructure is lacking.
According to a press release from the state, the funding was meant to support water quality, as well as potentially increasing the development of housing – especially in village areas. Amadon said previously that aging septic systems and the space taken up by them prevents Moretown from developing housing.
The Moretown village area contains around 40 septic systems on private parcels of land.
A report based on the town’s preliminary engineering study is currently being put together by Otter Creek Engineering. Amadon said the data collected in the study could very well inform more work in the future to get the system constructed – if the town learned of another potential site.
The report will show data that backs up the need for a village wastewater system and results of the test pits, including soil quality in those areas.
“There’s always funding to pursue with the Clean Water State Revolving Fund,” Amadon said. “If a site opens up that looks promising, then yes, the town could move forward – one, five or 20 years in the future.”
