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Date: 3/22/2022
HATFIELD – The town applied for a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant to upgrade the local wastewater treatment plant, which is 35 years old. The Selectboard recently learned the federal grant will pay for $2.4 million of the $12 million price tag.
“Where we’re at right now is a bit of a crossroads,” said David Prickett, a consultant with DPC Engineering. “The USDA has come back to us [and] I’m here this evening to ask you, do you want to move forward?”
The estimated project cost is intimidating. According to a handout available on the town’s Department of Public Works web page, through the USDA grant program the town will have an out-of-pocket expense of $9.623 million for the upgrades. The USDA requires municipalities to assume a 40-year loan term for the borrowing. The interest rate will be 1.25 percent.
As Prickett explained to the board, the USDA program gives a preliminary funding commitment that details the likely grant amount and loan terms. Those data points clarify the cost to taxpayers, who must vote to appropriate the town’s share of project costs at the upcoming Annual Town Meeting. The town must commit its share of the funds before a formal written commitment is given to the town by the USDA.
According to Town Administrator Marlene Michonski, the warrant article will ask for authorization to borrow the full $12.029 million for the project. The grant is reimbursable and will reduce the net cost. She anticipated discussion because the number is still large.
“It’s a lot of money, so there will be questions,” Michonski said. “It’s infrastructure improvements that are necessary. Any improvements to infrastructure are expensive.”
Prickett sought to reduce the large numbers to household-sized bites. The town’s consultant estimated that a property owner on a septic tank, who does not use town water services, will see their taxes increase $5.09 monthly, or about $60 per year. A user of town water services will see a combined increase for water usage and debt service of about $23.24 monthly, or about $279 yearly.
The need for upgrades to the system has been recognized for quite some time. Town leaders made efforts to address the needs of the treatment plant, and as Prickett commented, “the heart and lungs of the plant are in good shape … and will continue to be part of the system moving forward.”
Eric Meals, superintendent of the Sewer Department, spoke to the differences in daily operating procedures and costs the upgrades will bring.
“We used to have bladder tanks to help with pressure on the system, so the pumps weren’t running all the time. The tanks are no longer in use,” Meals said. “We run one pump all the time. It gets the job done but it’s very inefficient. It’s definitely a project that will increase the efficiency of the plant, electricity wise and for us being able to use it.”
Prickett outlined the extensive renovations planned for the system. He began with the “head work,” the screening system that takes rags, flushable wipes and other solid matter out of the waste stream. That will be replaced, as will the grit system, which filters sand and soil out of the waste stream.
“The grit system you have right now is literally hanging off the side of the building,” Prickett said. “I don’t know how it’s staying up there, but it’s shot.”
The secondary clarifiers, rectangular tanks at the rear of the building, allow the biological sludge to settle out. The tanks are still viable, but everything inside them – chains and wheels, metals, sprockets – must be replaced.
Plant safety will improve when the current use of chlorine gas for disinfection is converted to sodium hyper-chloride, a much safer liquid alternative. Prickett said Hatfield is one of the last treatment plants to still use chlorine. Deerfield is currently replacing their chlorine gas plant with the safer alternative.
Solids handling will become more efficient after the upgrades. The strainer system that removes solids requires water to wash that equipment. The well beside the treatment plant is polluted, and a water main will be extended a couple thousand feet to the plant, to supply clean water for lavatory use and consumption; but in the new system effluent from the plant will be recycled to clean the strainer equipment rather than using potable water.
“It requires a pumping system, pressure monitoring, boosters, controls, so that’s a key element of the project,” Prickett said.
The bathrooms will see usability upgrades; but the last major piece of the project is the nine pumping stations spread around the town. The project will deploy newer equipment, reduce operating time, and focus on greater efficiencies and electrical savings.
Selectboard member Brian Moriarty emphasized that money previously spent on the treatment plant was not wasted and those remedies will continue to be used. Michonski hopes residents will come to Town Meeting to get answers to questions about the project.
“People should have questions,” Michonski said. “It’s a lot of money.”