Herriman wastewater upgrade reaches 60% design milestone as state financing lines up

At the Aug. 19 meeting of the Orange County Sewer District No. 1 advisory committee, project engineers and county staff said design work on the Herriman Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade is on schedule for a 60% design submission in September and that several state financing options have advanced.

The update matters because the full project is large — the presentation used a working project maximum of $185 million — and new low-cost financing and grants could substantially lower the debt burden for district ratepayers.

Mary Beth Miller, who joined the committee virtually, said the project team remains on target for 60% design and that the sludge-handling approach has moved into conceptual design for a sludge-hopper option. "So we remain on target for 60% design, due at the September," Miller said. She described equipment reviews (mechanical and manual screens, wire-wedge screens for scum discharge) and said geotechnical work focused on the new sequencing-batch-reactor tanks has been moved from August into September.

Miller reported progress on access and permitting: the project team received no preliminary comments from the state Department of Transportation on a proposed secondary access off Route 17 and is advancing final design and an application to purchase surplus DOT property for a truck entrance that would reduce construction and operational truck traffic on local roads. She also said the team completed required lead and asbestos surveys for structures that will be demolished during construction.

On regulatory reviews, Miller said the project team met virtually with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) on Aug. 8 to discuss an interim submission and a notice of incomplete application (NOIA) related to a planned upgrade and a variance application tied to a 6 million gallons-per-day (MGD) variant. She said DEC raised issues including freshwater wetlands, water-withdrawal needs for dewatering excavations, stormwater and stream-bank disturbance permits, and environmental‑justice screening under DEC Commissioner Policy No. 29. "We should have draft response documents sometime next week," Miller said, and DEC committed to a follow-up meeting in September.

On financing, Miller said the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) intended‑use plan for federal fiscal year 2026 identified the project as qualifying for $25 million in 0% borrowing for up to 30 years; remaining project costs would be offered as subsidized borrowing at "50% of market rate at the time of closing," she said. Miller called that allocation "a really big win for the county." She also said the team submitted a Water Quality Improvement Program (WQIP) grant application on July 31 seeking up to $10 million for construction and planned to apply under the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA), with that WIIA application due on Sept. 12. WIIA provides grants equal to 25% of net project costs after other grants, up to $25 million in $5 million annual increments, Miller said.

Miller described the county's process compliance: the project held an initial hearing in March that the county later determined lacked required statutory notice language, a rehearing was held on July 23, and a resolution of public interest was adopted by the legislature at its Aug. 14 meeting. She said the project team also coordinated with the state Office of the State Comptroller and Environmental Facilities Corporation and that the county's application materials were praised as complete.

Public comments received at the July 23 rehearing and in writing ranged from technical clarifications to policy concerns. Resident Mike Egan asked about the status of federal bipartisan infrastructure law dollars and about the project’s second phase; Miller said the second phase would address county-owned interceptor and trunk sewers that have reached the end of their useful life and will require separate design and public review. Multiple residents questioned the fairness of a flat residential benefit assessment tied to a single‑family equivalency; Miller and staff responded that the district lacks a consistent, county‑wide basis (many properties are on wells and lack water meters) to apply a consumption‑based bill and that state law requires benefit assessments based on objective measures rather than household income.

Wayne Mitchell, mayor of the Village of Harriman, submitted a written statement urging the county to consider compensation or other mitigation for the host community; Miller summarized the county's response, saying the district must treat users "in an objectively reasonable manner relative to the benefit received" and that geographic proximity to the plant is not a factor in the benefit assessment, though the project will include specific mitigation measures identified in the environmental impact statement, including odor control, dust and stormwater management during construction, and scheduling coordination with village events.

No formal vote on project authorization occurred during the advisory committee meeting; Miller said the next steps are to finalize the NOIA response, attend the DEC follow-up meeting in September, submit the WIIA application by Sept. 12, and pursue two legislative actions in late August/early September: authorization to apply for WIIA funding and a resolution of intent to bond the project to satisfy state financing requirements.

The committee packet cited an estimated household impact under earlier worst‑case market‑rate assumptions of about $1,000 per year per household (about $500 of which reflected existing costs and $500 additional debt service). Miller noted the new 0% loan and subsidized balance would reduce that burden compared with prior calculations. The project team said the cost estimate includes escalation and contingencies and that the county continues to seek grant funding to lower the local share.

Next steps: the county will circulate the final comment‑response document after incorporating the county attorney’s edits, pursue DEC follow-up and permitting, file the WIIA application by Sept. 12, and run the two legislative items through committee and the Legislature in late August and early September.