Council ratifies Fuss & O'Neil contract for Coventry High School pretreatment design; project funding and timeline discussed

The Coventry Town Council voted 7–0 to ratify a contract with Fuss & O'Neil for pretreatment design work at Coventry High School, a key step toward connecting the school to a new sewer main.

The high‑school sewer project is the top priority on the town’s sewer facilities plan because the on‑site wastewater treatment system is no longer functioning and is being used as a holding tank that the town must pump out, Assistant Town Manager Maria Broadbent told the council.

Broadbent said the total project cost is estimated at about $4,200,000, with roughly $3.25 million coming from a state funding source and a bit more than $1 million proposed from the town bond. She said the town has already spent about $1 million pumping the failing system and that the construction itself could take up to a year; contractors might start at both ends to reduce schedule risks.

The ratified $50,000 contract with Fuss & O'Neil covers design work for pretreatment systems at the high school (for kitchens, an automotive shop, laundry facilities and similar dischargers). Broadbent said the original Fuss & O'Neil contract for the overall facilities design and engineering was $376,000, and that the town intends to use funds sitting with the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank (about $540,000 reserved since 2013) to pay for the pretreatment design.

Broadbent described a sequence of related tasks: the town will finalize pretreatment design, secure a West Warwick pretreatment permit, bring commercial connections before the sewer subcommittee, and send informed notices to roughly 35 properties that will be affected by the new sewer main.

Town Manager Dan Perillo and Broadbent said Kent County Water will replace aging water mains along Reservoir Road as part of the same bid package to satisfy separation requirements between drinking water and sewer work; the town will not pay for water‑line replacement costs.

Councilman Brown raised concerns about business owners who rent rather than own property and asked that the town reach out specifically to tenants as well as property owners; Broadbent said she would do door‑to‑door contacts and hold an additional open house before construction.

A motion to ratify the Fuss & O'Neil pretreatment contract carried by roll call: motion by Councilman Pasqua, second by Councilman Brown; roll call vote was 7 in favor, 0 opposed.

Provenance: Assistant Town Manager Maria Broadbent presented the project and the contract; the council ratified the contract later in the meeting.