Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
| By Paula Canning Staff Writer HOLYOKE Now that the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) July 1 deadline for the city to reduce its pollution of the Connecticut River or face potential fines has passed, Mayor Michael Sullivan has decided to pursue signing the controversial 20-year contract with Aquarion to upgrade and run the city's sewage plant without the appropriation for the first contract installment or approval of a sewer rate hike in an effort to avoid federal fines. But, according to Sullivan, financial and legal hurdles, including meeting certain requirements of the state's Department of Revenue (DOR), have stalled the process, and a solution in the near future is not definite. "Some days it looks like we're close to figuring this out, and then a moment later we're not," he said. He explained, for instance, that last week some financial issues were resolved, but those resolutions in turn created additional legal issues. "It gets very complicated," he said. He said the city has been meeting with a number of financial and legal consultants in an attempt to adopt or reconstruct the contract within the necessary guidelines. According to Sullivan the fine from the EPA could potentially fall within any six figure range, although he said the EPA has indicated that it would most likely be between $180,000 and $350,000. "That's money that won't serve the public of Holyoke," he said. Although the EPA has not yet issued a fine, Sullivan said it is expecting a letter from the city explaining why the city has failed to meet the mandate within 14 days of the deadline. The contract calls for Aquarion, a Bridgeport, Conn., based company to design and build upgrades, as well as operate the plant in a $176 million contract. Opponents of the contract, including several city councilors, believe the contract is flawed and have questioned the accuracy of the proposed savings for the city and the competency of the Aquarion company. The cost of the contract has recently increased to an additional $45,000 a month. According to Sullivan, this is due to increased costs of gas, and building materials such as cement and iron. "People have to realize that Aquarion held the original price for 12 months," he said. This past spring, Sullivan said he would not sign the contract until the proper appropriations and rate hike was approved by the City Council. In June, city councilors voted to transfer $470,000 from sewer reserves to fund the first installment of the contract, but because the funds needed to be spent by the end of the month, the end of FY05, the appropriation did nothing to move the contract forward. In addition, the City Council recently tabled a measure to increase the sewer rate by 50 percent. The measure cannot be addressed until the next meeting of the Council's Ordinance Committee, which is set for July 26. "I never suggested that I would sign the contract without the support of the appropriation and the rate [hike,]" Sullivan said. "It is not a situation that I would like to be in, and not a situation that the city should be in. "But a minority group of citizens and city councilors have chosen to put the city in this position, and because of that I'm going to have to make a very difficult choice," he said. He also said that he is in a situation in which the city can "move forward with what is not the most sound model" or be subjected to "the wrath of the EPA." "It's a precarious position at best, but its one that as a mayor I've got to realize," he said. "I'm going to have to make a decision, and if I can overcome legal hurdles, meet the requirements of the DOR, and stay out of the shadow of the EPA, then I'm going to try and do it." |