City voters to weigh water, sewer ballot items
Projects total $1.56 million, with Rutland ratepayers on hook for $7 to $9 on the average water bill
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By Stephanie M. Peters STAFF WRITER - Published: June 6, 2009
Rutland City residents are being asked to return to the voting booth Tuesday to weigh in on which, if any, water and sewer projects they're willing to expend ratepayer dollars on as a match to economic stimulus funds.
A five-item ballot will greet voters during the special election, with each item representing a project that has made the state's competitive "funded" list for the clean water or drinking water state revolving fund.
In total, the projects cost $1.56 million, with $751,500 of that cost, or $7 to $9 on the average household's $800 water bill, falling to the pockets of ratepayers.
Residents overwhelmingly gave the city permission to bond for these projects in March under a different set of conditions. At that time, city officials told voters they would use the bonds only for projects that would be 100 percent repaid by the stimulus funds.
Days after the election, however, the state announced that loan forgiveness would only be 50 percent to 57 percent, according to Mayor Christopher Louras.
Still, the city decided to pursue the projects because each is a necessary improvement to the existing infrastructure that will need to be completed at some point, according to City Engineer Evan Pilachowski.
The first three items on the ballot would fund the repair of wastewater collection systems on Crescent and West streets and the southern side of the city, respectively.
On Crescent Street, the storm-sewer system is overloaded, and only becomes worse when flooding occurs on North Main Street and spills over, Pilachowski said. There the sewer infrastructure dates to the late 19th century, while the storm sewer is nearly 70 years old, he said.
The total cost of its replacement will be $675,000.
On West Street between Green Hills Lane and East Creek, the Department of Public Works has video surveillance confirming the severity of the problem.
"You can see stones perched where pipe should be," Pilachowski said. "We're nervous that's going to cause a large sinkhole to form or even plug the pipe … which would have an effect downstream."
Improvements on West Street are estimated to cost $250,000.
The southern sewer collection system, meanwhile, is the main trunk line between Calvary Cemetery and the River Street pumping station and it services most of the southern half of the city, Pilachowski said.
The infrastructure along this line is the same age as sections that have failed elsewhere in the city and DPW "has no reason to believe this one's in any better condition," he said.
It also sits a few feet below the water table and should it begin to fail, would cause contamination that the wastewater treatment plant would be forced to handle, according to Pilachowski.
The cost of this project has been placed at $500,000.
The final wastewater project – which like the others carries 50 percent loan forgiveness – calls for $35,000 for energy efficiency improvements, namely lighting in the administrative and dewatering buildings at the wastewater treatment plant.
The fifth project, the $100,000 purchase and installation of a storage tank disinfection mixer for the water distribution system, is the only one that would be reimbursed at the rate of 57 percent. The city doesn't have a mixer, which Pilachowski said would both improve the water quality and prevent ice formation and damage within the water tanks.
Just as in a normal election, all four polling locations in the city will be open to voters from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to Assistant City Clerk Susan Clark.
stephanie.peters@rutland herald.com
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