By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG – Ogdensburg City Council will consider borrowing $5.2 million for improvements at the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

The council meets tonight, March 28, at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

The wastewater treatment plan needs more than $10 million in improvements, the chief of which is a mandatory $5.3 million project to construct an 800,000 combined sewer overflow equalization tank that must be completed by 2019.

The council is expected to act on a resolution that would allow the city to issue $5.2 million in serial bonds.

Also on the agenda are resolutions that could help the city finance projects at the wastewater treatment plant.

Those resolutions would authorize the city manager to submit applications for financing through the Clean Water Revolving Fund and a Water Infrastructure Improvement Grant that could cover up to 25 percent of the WWTP project.

The city hired C2ae Engineering to create a capital improvement plan that prioritizes needed upgrades based on needs and potential savings.

According to the report an additional $5.2 million will be needed improvements in the near future.

The highest priority items include:

• Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and overall electrical distribution systems – Reduces the ability to operate sequential wastewater treatment processes timely and effectively; requires significant manual time and attention to address; increases potential for effluent violating discharge limits

• Primary and secondary digesters and gas capture system – Prevents the capture of methane gas to convert and reuse as energy for the treatment process and overall facility demands which could be used to reduce utility costs

• Sludge filter press equipment – Reduces dewatering effectiveness leaving a high-moisture content that increases costs to process, handle and dispose of sludge

• Comminutor – Allows larger solids and debris to clog process equipment and reduce overall treatment process effectiveness

Purdy says some of the improvements will provide returns on investment due to efficiencies. She said the city’s plan to contract with the Development Authority of the North Country for management a the plant, could be beneficial in seeking grants and implementing upgrades prioritized in the capital improvement plan.

The executive summary for the plan is available at city hall.