Village Board weighs its options for wastewater treatment system

MILLERTON — Turning its attention to the proposed wastewater treatment system for the village, the Village Board considered alternative options at its meeting on Monday, Nov. 16.

Gathering at 6 p.m., the entire board met via Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic and live streamed the meeting on the “Village of Millerton VOM” Facebook page. 

As she introduced Tighe & Bond Senior Project Manager Erin Moore’s presentation, Mayor Debbie Middlebrook said she wanted the board to hear what’s been going on with the project and what their options are. Though it was hopeful about purchasing some additional land near the parcel it located for the proposed wastewater system, Middlebrook said she wasn’t sure if it would be feasible. She asked Moore what the village’s options are if it is unable to get the additional land needed to cover all of the village’s wastewater needs plus some areas extending outside of the Boulevard District and up Route 22. 

If all the village has to work with is the one parcel of land for its proposed wastewater system, the mayor asked Moore how many properties the system can actually provide for using the original proposed subsurface wastewater system and, if it wasn’t going to give the village enough coverage, whether there is another type of wastewaster system it could choose — or if the village should start looking at other parcels.

Moore began her presentation by refreshing the board’s memory of previous discussions related to the wastewater system proposal. As far as what approaches the village could take with its current parcel, she projected the village’s probable system. With the current parcel, Moore said the village could get rid of about 50,000 gallons of wastewater a day if it uses the system to the maximum. 

The village would need some open ground for the wastewater system as well as biofiltration units, a flow meter, equalization tanks and a control shed, and Moore said engineers would use every bit of space they could for site absorption fields for subsurface wastewater disposal when designing the system.

One important factor to consider is that the village needs to be able to access the wastewater system at all times. Seeing as 50,000 gallons a day is just shy of Tighe & Bond’s recommendation of 55,000 gallons a day, Moore said the village has to figure out how to buckle down with the estimates to see if it is overestimating or if there are some residential areas where it would be reasonable to shave off 5,000 gallons a day. That 50,000 gallons a day, she said, is what the village can get rid of on the site without any additional space.

As an alternative option, the board could opt for installing a surface disposal wastewater system. Projecting a map to show what the system’s layout would look like, Moore said that the access road and emergency access road scenario would remain the same and that it could fit easily on the village’s parcel. Included in the benefits for a surface disposal system, there would be a lower capital cost for construction; there wouldn’t be any volumetric limitation to the outfall capacity or a requirement for an additional parcel. The challenges include the operation and maintenance costs being more expensive; a more intrusive treatment system; an anticipated high level of regulatory review coordination; and the system would not be “easily faceable.”

Without specific flow data, Moore said Tighe & Bond is concerned about the potential for inflated costs and recommended a phased approach for the project. For Phase I construction costs, the estimated total project cost for the surface disposal system was calculated at $9,161,000 while the total annual cost for debt service and operation and maintenance was calculated at $465,400. As far as whether this is affordable, Moore said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it’s affordable if it’s less than 2% of the median household income; for a single family house, that has to be less than $933.34 annually. Middlebrook wants the board to meet in December.

“We all know we want to move forward,” Middlebrook said. “It’s just finding the right fit for us.”