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$2.68 million dollar grant will help Potsdam upgrade aging wastewater treatment plant

Posted 8/16/16

By CRAIG FREILICH POTSDAM -- With a $2.68 million grant announced last week, the village is a step closer to filling out the $10.7 million cost of a major upgrade to its aging and inefficient …

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$2.68 million dollar grant will help Potsdam upgrade aging wastewater treatment plant

Posted

By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM -- With a $2.68 million grant announced last week, the village is a step closer to filling out the $10.7 million cost of a major upgrade to its aging and inefficient wastewater treatment plant.

The village has applied for more than $8 million in low- or no-interest loans from the state Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) to fill out the expense of the project.

The village has also asked for a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Program, which would lower the size of the loan required from the EFC.

The $2.68 million Water Infrastructure Improvement Act grant is actually “up to $2.6 million based on a percentage of the total cost of the project,” said Village Administrator Everett Basford.

“The actual figure will be known sometime down the road,” he said.

The funding plan includes an application for an EFC Clean Water State Revolving Fund 30-year loan with hardship financing at zero percent interest, and the hope of more grants.

“Until we get the funding sources all in line and guaranteed, it’s a moving target.” He said of the loan, “The EFC will fund the entire amount of they have to.”

The original facility goes back to 1970. The last significant upgrade was in the mid-1990s.

Among the elements in line for upgrades and energy efficiency improvements are screens and filters to trap more grit and a growing number of other things in the system, such as “flushable” wipes, which older systems cannot filter out, and they can clog pumps.

Other elements of the system are energy inefficient and costly to operate compared with newer systems, an engineer’s report said.

The report last year, from engineers hired by the village to evaluate the system and recommend upgrades, Barton and Loguidice (B&L) of Syracuse, said the six pumping stations used by the system, maintained by the Department of Public Works, are all in good condition. The report suggests adding emergency generators and updated control panels with remote monitoring.

The plan attempts to make maximum use of existing infrastructure, such as tanks.

All the water pollution control facility's buildings were put up in 1970, and had new roofs put on in the mid-1990s. The roofs need replacement again, and energy efficiency upgrades are called for, such as sealing air leaks, using LED lighting and updating heating and ventilation infrastructure, according to the report.

With the upgraded system, the amount of material needing to be trucked away will be reduced.

The village has been spending about $170,000 a year to haul sludge solids out to farms for land application, which is actually about two percent actual solids. With the new system, what has to be trucked away will be more concentrated at about 30 percent solids, easier and cheaper to transport.

If everything falls into place, construction could begin next year, said the engineers.

State Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, whose district includes Potsdam and who worked to secure the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act grant, says these kinds of grants are designed to help localities tackle the huge expense of such vital projects.

“Local municipalities and taxpayers cannot easily bear the burden of funding necessary upgrades to their aging water infrastructure, so I am pleased to have helped secure these investments to make it easier for communities in the North Country to improve the quality of water they provide their residents, while protecting the environment,” Griffo said.