This Town Meeting Day, Vermont’s towns and cities are collectively asking voters to approve tens of millions of dollars for one of the most expensive categories of public infrastructure: water and sewer systems.
Many of the projects are eligible for grants and loans from the state, if voters approve them on Tuesday.
The largest water project that voters will consider on Tuesday is in South Burlington, where residents will decide whether to approve a $33.8 million bond, which would support a number of updates to the water system. The item will appear as Article 3 on voters’ ballots.
City officials would use around $22 million to upgrade the smaller of the city’s two wastewater plants at Bartlett Bay Road, which was constructed in 1970 and upgraded in 1999.
“There’s a lot of mechanics and science that goes into ensuring the public’s health and maintaining our water quality,” said Jessie Baker, city manager in South Burlington. ”So they have about a 20- to 30-year useful lifespan for the technology that’s used. So we are at that point where we need to do a significant upgrade of Bartlett Bay.”
$1.8 million would allow the city to upgrade the Airport Parkway plant, which handles the solids that are filtered out from wastewater, and $4.4 million would update or replace four old wastewater pump stations in close proximity to Lake Champlain.
In Rutland City, residents will consider two water-related bonds. The first, Article 2, would funnel $2.5 million into replacements for cast-iron water mains that are more than 125 years old. The upgrades would be part of a long-term city project.
Another bond would fund two separate projects. A total of $750,000 would go toward the Combination and Piedmont Pond Improvements Project, whose goal is to lower the temperature in the Moon Brook watershed by dredging two ponds and planting trees around them. As a result, the ponds and the watershed would host more fish and a healthier ecosystem. Then, $1.1 million would be used to separate parts of the stormwater and wastewater systems in Rutland to prevent sewage overflows.
Middlebury officials are asking voters to consider $3.5 million, in Article 8, for construction of a new water tank. A state survey found that the current tank doesn’t have enough capacity for daily demands, and doesn’t provide enough of a reserve to help in the event of a large fire, according to Emmalee Cherington, director of planning for the Middlebury Department of Public Works. Article 5 asks voters to authorize $1 million from the town’s Cross Street Bridge Reserve Fund to put toward the project.
If a $3.4 million ballot measure — Article 7 — passes in Springfield, officials will replace four outdated water mains and upgrade connections between water mains and residences that contain lead.
“Because we’re doing a lot of lead remediation, the funding package includes a million dollars of loan forgiveness, with the balance of the package coming in for 40 years at zero percent interest, which is a fantastic funding package,” said Jeff Mobus, town manager in Springfield.
In Bethel, voters will consider a $2.5 million bond that would help to install new water mains to replace aging pipes, replace the Gaiko Well House and install a new booster pump station that would alleviate existing pressure issues on Krystal Drive. If voters approve the project, it would be eligible for $425,000 of funding from the state.
A $2 million bond in Brattleboro would fund upgrades to pump stations and replace an undersized water main.
In Richmond, a $1.9 million bond would cover replacements for portions of several water mains on three different roads.
In St. Johnsbury, officials would use $1.6 million to upgrade the wastewater treatment facility to better handle solid waste.
And in Shelburne, a $1.1 million would replace city residents’ outdated water meters. Workers at the water department would be able to read the new meters from a distance instead of searching for their specific location, according to Lee Krohn, Shelburne’s town manager. He estimates the new meters will save the department 1,000 hours of work each year.
While officials in Shelburne replace water meters, they plan to inspect the connections between homes and water mains for pipes that contain lead, saving time and around $400,000, Krohn estimates.
“We’re all facing the same challenges of utility systems — which have been installed for many years — parts of them reaching end of life, and pipes needing replacement,” he said, adding that Shelburne residents can expect a “huge” bond vote next year for a wastewater consolidation project.
