Flush with federal dollars, towns in Vermont are getting ready to put millions toward water infrastructure projects, which will help keep water clean and bring it safely in and out of homes and buildings.
Most federal funding — whether it’s in the hands of town or state officials — needs approval from those living locally. Dozens of municipalities in Vermont are working to upgrade their water infrastructure, and some of them will take the issue to voters this Town Meeting Day.
Projects vary in expense and scale. Some towns are planning to replace the pipes that carry water through streets to and from homes, while others are planning big upgrades to wastewater treatment facilities, many of which have remained outdated for years.
In total, Vermont will see around $400 million in federal funding for water infrastructure, said Neil Kamman, director of Vermont’s Water Investment Division.
“The opportunities presented are the kinds of dollars that have never been invested by the federal government into water systems,” Kamman said. “It is the most transformational investment that we’re going to see in Vermont in one or two generations, I think.”
There are several ways Vermont towns can access that money. Some, from the American Rescue Plan Act, is distributed directly to towns and can be used for approved purposes. Towns can also apply for funding through one of the state’s revolving loan funds, or directly through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Vermont’s Revolving Loan Fund program has two prongs — one for “clean water” projects such as sewage treatment and pollution prevention, and another for drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency makes grants available to states for those two purposes annually, which the state distributes in the form of loans. This time, because of federal funding, municipalities won’t have to pay as much back.
Kamman said the “vast majority of money coming to Vermont” via President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill, passed into law last fall, is coming through the state revolving loan funds.
“It’s not the most streamlined process in the world, but it’s a process that municipalities and engineers understand,” he said.
Opportunities for upgrades are abundant, including in the state’s largest and smallest municipalities. Out of a long list of pending projects, some appear to have implications that extend beyond the obvious system improvements.
Colchester officials are looking to invest $17 million to construct a municipal sewer system, thereby eliminating failed septic systems that are impacting Mallets Bay with bacteria from human waste. The issue has been controversial among residents.
“Town Residents outside the project area will have no cost associated with this project, as it will be funded solely by grants and user fees from the 289 properties within the service area,” a letter from the Colchester selectboard to residents says.
Manchester officials are hoping voters will approve several infrastructure articles on the ballot, including an expansion of their sewer system. It would run from near the town’s new library north to Town Hall, where it would connect to a mobile home park, said John O’Keefe, the town manager.
“It’s not on public sewer or public water systems,” O’Keefe said. “And the units are pretty close together. It just seems like a real equity issue.”
In Waterbury, municipal manager William Shepeluk hopes some funding coordination could encourage two separate municipalities — the town of Waterbury and the Edward Farrar Utility District, formerly Waterbury Village — to combine.
In 2017, the village gave up its governmental authority, shutting down its police, fire and highway departments, leaving residents with only water and sewer services. It wasn’t eligible for funding through the American Rescue Plan Act, Shepeluk said.
The town of Waterbury received $1.5 million through ARPA, and Shepeluk proposed transferring $600,000 of it to the neighboring utility district.
“There’s a definite benefit to the town to do this,” he said.
First, it would allow the utility district to take over and upgrade a water system within a nearby mobile home park that’s privately owned. What’s left of the money would go toward upgrading a water main in an area experiencing economic development. In order to complete the deal, the utility district would need to turn a revolving loan fund, worth about $1.8 million — including about $600,000 in cash — over to the town.
Ultimately, Shepeluk hopes the transaction “will stimulate conversations about an actual merger between the two municipalities and will become one town,” he said.
Vergennes, Kamman said, is looking to do a massive overhaul of its wastewater system, refurbishing a combined wastewater and stormwater collection system and rebuilding its wastewater plant.
“It’s a huge ask, but there’s never been a better time to get as much of it as possible publicly financed,” Kamman said. “What that does is, that sets the community up for a generation or two, and allows the community to put growth inside the community where it belongs.”
