AMHERST — A $750,000 study to determine upgrades needed for modernizing the town’s aging wastewater treatment plant is expected to come before the Town Council for action in September.
The Finance Committee Tuesday voted 4-0, with two resident members also in support, to endorse a proposal from Town Manager Paul Bockelman and Department of Public Works Superintendent Guilford Mooring to hire a consultant to put together a plan for overhauling the plant, which came online in 1979.
Located in Hadley at the edge of the University of Massachusetts campus, Bockelman said there are challenges ahead for the operation, even as the town has invested $3.3 million in a gravity belt thickener that helps to remove water from the sludge.
But other improvements are likely needed, and the engineering consultant would assess both the condition of the plant and lay out a timeline and priorities for this work.
“The final report and technical reports will constitute a facility plan meeting the requirements of the Department of Environmental Protection. It will lay out proposed improvements and provide estimated budgets for the work,” reads a memo from Bockleman and Mooring.
Mooring said the last time the plant was examined, the headworks where wastewater comes in were out of date, better pumps could be installed to take out gravel, rags and other items that are flushed down toilets, and the chlorine system for disinfecting the sewage was found to be antiquated. Mooring added that a new MassDEP permit may require a pH adjustment, as well.
The review will determine possible changes to the processes as well as to machinery at the plant, which is the largest municipal user of electricity.
“There’s a lot more detailed analysis that goes into this, it’s not just looking at this pump is 40 years old and needs to be replaced,” Mooring said
It will take a year to get a study done, Mooring said, and then the town can figure out how to fund the recommendations.
There could be an impact on sewer rates, though Mooring said other factors are also driving changes to the rates, such as the sludge hauling contract that will be going out to bid next year. Based on rising costs of trucking, the town may need more money in the sewer enterprise fund to cover this.
Councilors on the Finance Committee noted concerns with the high costs of the study.
District 5 Councilor Bob Hegner wondered if the town could approach UMass, Amherst College and Hampshire College to provide money for upgrading the system.
“It seems to me this is a capital expenditure that comes once every 30 or 40 years, maybe we could ask them for some assistance,” Hegner said.
Bockelman said their response will be that they are rate payers already, though there could be a way to make bigger users pay more. “We will recover the cost from the users,” he said.
Mooring said there is a State Revolving Fund available to fund such projects, and loan forgiveness for any actual construction.
At Large Councilor Andy Steinberg said this will mean a big hit over time, it will affect rates and town officials need to be honest with residents about the associated costs.
Council President Lynn Griesemer thanked Mooring and Bockelman for proceeding with the consultant, observing she has been concerned with the condition of the plant based on a tour she was given.
A public hearing on the spending is likely to be held on Sept. 8.
