[W]hile Rutland residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bond to fund wastewater treatment upgrades, residents of Colchester narrowly shot down a proposal to hook up Malletts Bay residents to municipal sewer treatment.
Colchester residents voted 1,396 to 1,203 against a plan to use $9.65 million in local option taxes to repay a bond to fund the Malletts Bay sewer project, according to unofficial election results.
Connecting residences around Malletts Bay, a Lake Champlain bay lined with camps and homes, to the municipal sewer system has been a priority for Colchester town planners since the 1960s. A 2013 study found that 69 percent of the residences have unsuitable land for onsite septic systems. Seven Days has reported that human waste has been found in 8.5 percent of water samples from nearby beaches.
Colchester voted down a similar plan in 1999. Town leaders hoped residents would approve the new $14.3 million sewer system proposal. The plan was to pump waste from Malletts Bay residences to South Burlington’s Airport Parkway wastewater treatment facility. Residents would have had to pay an estimated $791 per household in annual sewer costs.
The project faced steep opposition from residents who contended that there was not enough evidence that the Malletts Bay water quality woes were due to leaking septic systems. Colchester resident Marilyn Sowles, a member of the group Friends of Malletts Bay who voted against the proposal, questioned how much of an impact the sewer system would have had with “hundreds of boats in the summer” in the bay.
“And just like there are some septic systems that maybe aren’t doing the right thing, there’s also some boaters that will not follow the rules,” she said.
Sowles also said she was concerned that the installation of a sewer system would lead to more development in the area, exacerbating stormwater runoff issues.
Peter Mongeon, a Colchester resident who voted for the sewer plan, said that the town had put together a “great proposal” to improve water quality without raising taxes.
“I think if we don’t do something, it’s just going to get worse,” he said. “It’s just going to increase in pollution to the point where I wouldn’t want my grandchildren to swim in the lake.”
The town is working on a broader initiative to improve water quality in Malletts Bay.
Rutland approves $7.4 million bond
Rutland City residents voted 1,910 to 540 in unofficial results to approve a $7.4 million bond for wastewater treatment system improvements including digester repair, a main replacement and combined sewer overflow abatements.
Jeff Wennberg, the commissioner of the Rutland Department of Public Works, said parts of the water and sewer system, which dates back to the 1800s, are in desperate need of replacement.
Rutland is one of 14 municipalities in Vermont that have combined sewer systems that treat both wastewater and stormwater. During periods of heavy rain, relief valves open to prevent wastewater from backing up into homes and streets. These combined sewer overflows send untreated water directly into Lake Champlain tributaries. Recent intense storms have caused unusual strain on the system, Wennberg said.
The system overflowed 30 times last year, and parts of the pipe were found to be leaking.
“We do not want to find ourselves in a situation where the sewer main failed,” Wennberg said.
The improvements are part of an ongoing effort by the city to upgrade its aging wastewater treatment infrastructure. Taxpayers have invested $17 million in the water sewer issue since 1989. Wennberg said it will take at least another 20 years to fix the overflow issues in Rutland. He plans to develop a new long-term control plan to address the issues in the coming year.
“We’re making progress, but we still have a ways to go,” he said.
Kit Norton contributed reporting.
