MIDDLEBURY — The town of Middlebury has done a lot of the preliminary work for a new, 1.3-million-gallon municipal water storage tank to be placed on Chipman Hill, and officials are now forecasting installation this fall, or during the spring of 2026.

Plans had called for the tank to be installed earlier this year, but the project was postponed pending receipt of federal assistance aimed at reducing the financial impact of the project on municipal water ratepayers.

It was on Town Meeting Day of 2023 that Middlebury residents voted, 948-102, in favor of the new water tank. The tank was designed to supplement the current, 1.5-million-gallon receptacle in that same Chipman Hill area that now delivers municipal water to 6,000 year-round consumers. Those users include 2,500 Middlebury College students and 2,300 service connections providing flow to a variety of residential, commercial and industrial customers.

A 2017 “sanitary survey” conducted by the state found the current Chipman Hill water storage facility lacking in its ability to meet average-day demands. At the same time, the state ordered the town to build additional capacity into its municipal water system.

To cover the costs, Middlebury officials pitched — and voters approved — a $3.5 million bond, with payback reduced by using $1 million in surplus from Middlebury’s local option tax fund. Town officials vowed to apply for additional funding to further draw down the remaining $2.5 million in costs for water ratepayers.

And Emmalee Cherington, Middlebury’s public works planning director, has good news to share on that front.

While the total project cost has escalated from $3.5 million to $3.87 million since it was first pitched in 2023, Cherington this week confirmed the town has landed a $1 million grant through the Northern Borders Regional Commission. Middlebury is now seeking a low-interest loan through the state’s Drinking Water State Revolving Loan (DWSRL) Fund for the balance of the project costs — $2,870,000.

“We are literally the next project in line for the (DWSRL) loan,” Cherington said.

That means the Chipman Hill water tank project will jump into the financial pool if any of the projects currently ahead of it decide to bow out.

Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].