Low-interest government loan sought; construction may begin next April
A new engineering report prepared for the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) estimates that the low-pressure sewer system and upgraded treatment plant approved by Harvard voters in May could be ready to serve the homes, businesses, and municipal buildings clustered around Harvard’s wastewater-challenged town center by Thanksgiving of 2010.
The 50-page Project Engineering Report is part of a request by the town to borrow up to $2 million for the new sewer system at two percent interest from a federal- and state-funded DEP clean water revolving fund (SRF). The DEP uses such funds to improve wastewater treatment throughout the state. The prospect of borrowing money at below-market rates through the SRF was a key reason the Harvard selectmen decided to move ahead with the project this year.
To qualify for SRF loans, Harvard must make its case in an engineering study and a project evaluation form, which the DEP will use to determine the priority of Harvard’s request. Both documents are due at the DEP this week. The DEP will announce its list of 2010 projects in January. For the 2009 fiscal year, the DEP authorized $723 million from its Clean Water State Revolving Fund to finance 85 projects across the state. Meanwhile, the home rule bill (House Bill 1130) whose passage is necessary to create a sewer district in Harvard—and specify how it is to be governed and paid for—is making its way through the state legislature. The contents of the bill were approved in May at Town Meeting and the bill itself was introduced to the Massachusetts legislature by Harvard’s state representative, Jen Benson, in June.
The Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture held a hearing on the bill in July at which Selectman Tim Clark and others testified. The committee then referred it favorably for review to the House Ways and Means Committee. Pete Wilson, the committee’s legislative director, says once the group analyzes and approves H1130, the bill will go to the full House for three readings and a vote, though he can’t say when. After that, the next stop is the senate and, ultimately, the desk of Governor Duval Patrick.
Town Center Sewer Building Committee (TCSBC) Chairman Chris Ashley and the selectmen are not waiting for the legislature to complete its work or for the DEP to announce its 2010 funded projects. The TCSBC is set to request proposals for a sewer system design in October and to award a contract in November, with the expectation that a design will be completed in January 2010. According to Finance Director Lorraine Leonard, these studies will be paid for from the town stabilization fund, as authorized by Town Meeting. If all goes according to plan, construction could start in April 2010.
Harvard’s 2005 Town Center Action Plan calls the sewer system a necessary first step in revitalizing the center of the town. The use of town-owned buildings such as the old library is severely restricted by their lack of adequate septic systems. Businesses such as the newly renovated General Store are unable to expand for the same reason. Moreover, the engineering report completed this week documents that of the 79 buildings in the proposed town center sewer district, 78 percent have at least one known Title V compliance issue, or are served by a system older than the 31 years that have passed since 1978 Title V rules were enacted.
Moreover, the town’s wastewater treatment plant has violated its operating license at least twice in the last three years, and needs a $534,000 upgrade to better handle effluent from the schools and library. Because flows through the plant are typically a fraction of its 23,000 gallons per day capacity, its operation and maintenance are “inefficient” and “costly,” the engineering report to DEP says. Adding 79 buildings to the sewer system will actually improve operation of the upgraded plant by increasing flows of effluent throughout the year.
Although Harvard must compete with other towns for loan money from the DEP SRF, members of the recently appointed TCSBC that will oversee construction are confident the application will be approved. “It’s an SRF poster child,” said Clark, who is the Board of Selectman liaison to the TCSBC, at a meeting to review the application Tuesday evening. “It’s a win-win-win,” said Wayne Perry of Norfolk Ram Group, LLC. Perry is a principal author of the study, along with consultants from Weston and Sampson.
Once the loan is approved, the TCSBC can begin to borrow money and start construction. The town will begin making payments on the loan, using a combination of betterment fees and taxpayer money, once the new system begins operation.
