Sewer vote passed

By Paula Canning

Staff Writer

HOLYOKE The City Council voted 8-7 last Tuesday on a first reading to begin funding a 20-year agreement for a private company to upgrade and manage the city's waste-water treatment facility.

The $470,000 appropriation will fund the first installment of the proposed $24 million contract with the Bridgeport, Conn.-based company, Aquarion Operating Services.

The contract, which has been opposed by several city councilors, will be subject to a second vote May 17 in order for the funds to be transferred, according to Ward 6 Councilor Mark Lubold.

Lubold said that the City Council will also vote May 17 on a two-year rate proposal from the Board of Public Works that was send to the Ordinance Committee at Tuesday's meeting.

The proposed sewer hike would raise the rates 50 percent from $1.95 to $2.94 per 1,000 gallons of water used.

Lubold, who was originally in favor of investigating privatization as an option to help the city meet EPA mandates to reduce sewer overflow into the Connecticut River, said that he was "disappointed" by Tuesday's vote.

"I was in favor of looking at privatization as a way of solving the problem," he said. "But when when all the information started coming out in October, I discovered a lot of things that I just don't feel comfortable voting for."

Among these things, Lubold said, is the misrepresentation of projected cost savings.

"I really feel that the whole financial analysis has been artificially inflated, and that the city is gong to enter into 20-year contract that the rate payers don't deserve," Lubold said.

He said that he raised a number of arguments at Tuesday's meeting, including his assertion that the projected costs for the contract do not reflect contract management expenses.

He also expressed a concern with the annual service fee in the contract, which funds fluctuating expenses such as maintenance costs, sludge disposal and electricity expenses.

He said that, if the annual service fee proves to be more than the estimated cost, the rate payers will have to fund the difference.

In the event that the annual service fee turns out lower than the budgeted amount, however, he said that the rate payers will not be reimbursed, and that Aquarion will keep the difference.

"[Citizens] are paying for services that may never be rendered," he said. "I just think there's something simply wrong with that."

He added, "When I asked if anyone could explain all this, not one person raised their hand."

According to Lubold, the consistent unresponsiveness of other councilors who support the contract has helped to fuel his opposition.

"I haven't really heard the views of other councilors [who support the contract]," he said. "It's just been silent."

While the proposed contract has created a noticeable divide among city councilors, Lubold believes that the rift isn't likely to spill over onto future issues.

"I can't speak for all of the other city councilors, but I approach things on an issue by issue basis," he said. "I try to conduct myself in a professional manner."

He said that although he has found himself at odds with certain city officials while serving the city, "at the end of the day, I don't have any ill feelings toward anyone. I'm just looking forward to the next big issue."

According to Mayor Michael Sullivan, however, divisions among the city's leaders may not be so quick to dissolve.

"I think the scar is going to last for a long time," Sullivan said. "And that's unfortunate, because we should be moving on to the next issue."

Sullivan, who said he will not sign the contract until the Council approves both the appropriation and the rate increase, believes last Tuesday's vote was a "step in the right direction."

"I commend the city councilors that have continued to have the courage the support [the contract] in the face of a lot of misinformation that continues to be put out about how this would adversely affected Holyoke," he said.

Sullivan said that he is hoping that the council will vote to approve the rate hike, as it is necessary to fund the EPA mandated sewer plan upgrades.

"The rate needs to be sufficient in order to support the project going forward," Sullivan said. "Whether [the upgrades] are done with the public-private partnership, or with a traditional public procurement, everyone agrees that the costs are going to have to go up."

According to Sullivan, many of the city councilors opposed to the contract have inaccurately supported their argument by citing the success of the publicly-run sewage treatment facility in Lee, where the town partook in a similar battle over whether or not to privatize their sewage plant.

He said that while Lee was expecting to upgrade their sewage facility to meet EPA mandates at a cost of $12.5 million, the actual costs now exceed the estimate by more than $5 million.

He said that privatizing the sewage plant would help the city avoid a similar situation.

"With Aquarion, we're sitting here with a guaranteed cost for the company to take on the responsibility of the upgrades," he said.

Sullivan said that while he has always supposed an open discussion of the issue, many of the comments made by city councilors during Tuesday's meeting were "uncalled for" and "unprofessional."

"I think that a number of city councilors have always seen this as an issue they could politicize," he said.

He said that he has no animosity toward any of the city councilors, because the disagreement simply represents a difference of opinion.

"They are looking at the numbers different, and I just don't agree," he said. "We have plenty of issues to work on here in Holyoke. I just hope we can move forward with each one individually and keep them as separate issues."

Councilors Helens Norris, Kevin Jourdain, and Elaine Pluta were not able to return phone calls by press time.