Vergennes sump pumps on firing line

The Vergennes City Council last week addressed one of the trickier elements of the expensive ongoing effort to stop the city’s wastewater and sewer collection system from overflowing into Otter Creek — the many sump pumps that swing into action during heavy rains.

Public works head Jim Larrow said the deteriorated sewer pipe is 22 feet underground and there is bedrock in the area, and digging it up to replace it is not feasible. 

A consultant has estimated that Middlebury’s sewage treatment plant needs upwards of $18 million in upgrades if it’s to meet the community’s wastewater disposal needs during the coming 20 years. 

The cost to overhaul the Vergennes sewer collection and treatment system could end up being as much as 33% higher than estimated on the Town Meeting Day ballot, City Manager Ron Redmond and Hoyle & Tanner and Associates Project Manager Jennie Auster told … (read more)

Officials from the Rural Development arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture have formally unveiled the $17.5 million package of a grant and long-term loan that Vergennes will receive to help fund the $25.5 million overhaul of the city’s sewer system.

USDA officials will be in Vergennes on Thursday afternoon to make official the federal government’s $17.5 million contribution toward the city sewer system’s upcoming $25.5 million overhaul.

The feds will cover more of the $25.5 million city sewer upgrade than perviously expected.

The passage on Town Meeting Day of the Little City’s $25.5 million bond to finance a new city wastewater treatment facility is more than good news for Vergennes.

I am feeling grateful to the fine citizens of Vergennes and their leaders for passing the bond for upgrading the community sewer system.

Vergennes residents on Tuesday strongly backed spending up to $25.5 million — with an expectation of major outside government funding — for a complete overhaul of the city’s failing and aging sewer collection system and treatment plant.

Vergennes residents have known for a long time they need to replace their city’s antiquated wastewater treatment facility.

Vergennes officials are asking voters on March 1 to support spending up to $25.5 million for a complete overhaul of the city’s failing and aging sewer collection system and treatment plant.

If city officials’ and consultants’ optimism about grant support is rewarded, most Vergennes sewer users would see an annual increase over the next few years from $500 to $850 to fund bond payments, according to official estimates.

The minimum bond needed to solve some of the most pressing problems of the Vergennes sewer collection and treatment system might trigger payments that could triple the city’s user rates, the city council heard — not happily — at its Nov. 23 meeting.

Engineers last week put on the table Step 1 in Vergennes’s effort to keep dirty sewerage from overflowing into Otter Creek.