Waitsfield’s municipal wastewater project has already received and qualified and been nominated for millions of state and federal dollars, which has been the plan since the start of the $15 million project that will bring wastewater to Waitsfield and Irasville Villages and increase capacity throughout those areas.
Last month’s transfer of presidential and political power in Washington, DC, and the ensuing chaos of some federal spending being halted – then ordered to proceed by court orders has made for some uncertainty for projects reliant on federal funding or on funds trickling down from the feds to the states.
SHORT ANSWER
“The short answer is we don’t know how this will impact our project, nor do the agencies that we’re dealing with know. We were hoping and expecting that USDA Rural Development funding would move to fruition pretty soon and that doesn’t appear to be the case as it’s still delayed through the federal funding freeze. The good news is that the underwriting work that they do to determine eligibility is done and we’ve qualified for $4.6 million in grants and loans. Our application has been submitted and deemed complete but the commitment letter is delayed and we don’t know by how much,” explained Chach Curtis, Waitsfield Select Board member and the wastewater planning team spokesperson.
The town has solid commitments for at least $3 million and has other state and federal funding sources lined up and possible. Curtis said it’s now a matter of continuing to progress the project as much as possible so that the instant any funding becomes available, the town’s project is as shovel ready as possible and first in line to receive monies.
KEEP PROGRESSING
“The best thing we can do is keep progressing the project forward from a design perspective to get higher rankings from the various agency score cards so that if/when there’s funding available, we’re at the top of the list,” Curtis said.
By way of example, he cited the state’s Clean Water State Revolving fund, which the town applies for every year. Last year the town’s project ranked in the top three statewide and since that ranking, voters – in June 2024 – approved a bond of up to $15 million for the project which increases the town’s eligibility for those state funds. In addition to the positive bond vote, Waitsfield has been able to advance the wastewater project to more than 60% of the design process.
“That will rank us even higher,” Curtis said.
SHOVEL READY
“As the federal funding sorts itself out and we’re shovel ready, that money should come to us. We already have $2.5 million in ARPA funds and there is additional ARPA money that the state has been allocated but those projects are not moving forward. That money could also come to us, especially if we’re at the top of the list with the highest ranking,” Curtis added.
This week the town learned that it is likely to receive $2 million from the Northern Borders Regional Commission. Wastewater task force member JB Weir, Waitsfield’s zoning and planning administrator, said Waitsfield is No. 2 on that group’s priority list and that the project that is No. 1 does not seek money, but rather recognition on the priority list which means Waitsfield is likely to receive those funds. The deadline for that application is March 7.
