Orange County committee finds sewer-plant upgrade in public interest, readies grant applications

The Physical Services Committee of the Orange County Legislature voted to approve a resolution finding that proposed increases and improvements to Orange County Sewer District No. 1 are in the public interest, a step county staff said is required before submitting applications for state low-cost financing and grants.

Mary Beth Bianconi, a principal with Delaware Engineering, told the committee the action is procedural and does not authorize funding: "You are not approving the funds for this project with this resolution. This is simply to say it's within the public's interest," she said. The committee then voted to advance the resolution to the full legislature.

The nut graf: The county is advancing upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant that staff and consultants say are needed to meet regulatory nutrient limits and address aging infrastructure. Approval of the committee resolution lets county staff file an application under Section 85-a of state law for review by the state comptroller and to pursue financing through programs such as the Clean Water State Revolving Fund.

Delaware Engineering presented responses to public comments collected at a March public hearing and described how user charges are calculated under the county sewer code. Bianconi said the sewer code assigns "units of use" by land use: a single-family home equals 1 unit; a two-family equals 2; a large restaurant (over 75 seats) is 5 units; retail is measured as 1 unit per 4,000 square feet.

Bianconi and county staff said the consultant’s cost estimate is a "worst-case" analysis that does not assume grants or low-interest financing. She said the county will submit applications in late May for several programs, including the Clean Water State Revolving Fund; she noted those programs score projects partly on environmental need and partly on users' ability to pay. Bianconi said the Ramapo watershed near the plant is listed on the state's impaired waters (the 303(d) list) and that the plant upgrade will include increased nutrient treatment to help the Ramapo recover.

Committee members questioned who pays for debt and how outside users are billed. County staff explained the district uses a proportional-flow and unit-based approach: municipalities that send flow to the plant are billed for their share of flow and associated costs (debt and operations). The plant currently treats about 5.5 million gallons per day on average and is a 6 million gallon-per-day facility; the proposal discussed would increase capacity toward a 9 million gallon-per-day design, the consultant said.

On financing, Bianconi described a mix of competitive point-based grant programs and low-cost loans. She said the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, as presented to the committee, currently supports large projects and that the county is pursuing a broad portfolio of programs to reduce costs to users. She cited an illustrative program scope discussed in the meeting that referenced roughly $25 million in grant funding and up to $25 million in low-interest borrowing from one set of funds, and said the county was targeting approximately $60 million in grant funding across several sources; those dollar figures were given in the committee discussion as program-scale examples rather than as finalized awards.

What next: with the committee resolution approved, staff intend to prepare and file a Section 85-a application for comptroller review in June and to present the application to the supervisory committee and full legislature for approval to submit the application. Bianconi said that during the grant-application phase the county will try to secure as many low-cost loans and grants as possible so that the cost to a typical user is reduced from the "worst-case" estimate in the planning documents.

Ending: County staff said they will post the consultant responses to public comments on the county project webpage and that they expect to return with the Section 85-a application and additional project detail for committee and legislative review before any borrowing or contract awards are authorized.

Votes at a glance The committee approved forwarding a resolution that the proposed increase and improvement to Orange County Sewer District No. 1 is in the public interest (legislative request #138). The vote was taken by voice; the chair called for "all in favor, aye." An opposition was registered by a legislator who said "Gary." No numeric roll-call tally was provided in the committee record.