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Orange County schedules July 23 hearing on Harriman wastewater plant expansion; financing plans advance
Summary
Orange County officials set a July 23 public hearing on the Harriman Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion and outlined permit, design and financing steps including a planned bond resolution and multiple grant applications.
Orange County legislators and Sewer District staff on Tuesday set a public hearing for July 23 at 2:30 p.m. to take comment on the proposed expansion and related financing for the Harriman Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The hearing will be combined with actions the legislature needs to demonstrate fiscal commitment for multiple funding applications, county staff said. Officials described an ongoing design phase that includes sludge handling planning, geotechnical testing, asbestos and lead surveys of existing structures, coordination with the Department of Transportation about a possible secondary entrance and continuing permit work with the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).
County staff said the project’s engineering team has advanced site surveys and selected a geotechnical consultant after receiving three responsive proposals; Lavela (listed in the meeting as the low-cost proposer) was selected to begin subsurface testing and to advise on shoring and dewatering needs. Ambient Environmental has completed asbestos and lead work except for one remaining roof survey, staff reported.
On permitting, staff said DEC issued a notice of incomplete application on May 20 for an in-progress permit filing that raised issues including wetlands and environmental justice. The county has submitted jurisdictional determinations and requested a technical review and interim effluent limits from DEC; staff said they were still waiting for DEC’s technical review as of the meeting.
Funding and scheduling dominated the discussion. Staff reported a $185,000,000 project-cost planning figure and told the advisory board that currently identified grant and low-cost financing sources could total roughly $60,000,000. Staff presented per-user cost estimates that assume full borrowing; those estimates ranged around $1,000 per year per single-family household in the high case and about $850 per year in a lower-cost scenario if grant funding and low-cost borrowing are secured.
Staff reported recent and pending grant application dates: an in-progress Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) financing application submitted May 30; the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIA) application opening June 20 and due September 12; and a Water Quality Improvement Program (WQIP) application with a July 31 deadline. The county is preparing a Part 85 submission for the Office of the State Comptroller to document the procurement and project record and expects to file that application after internal legal review.
Because several grant and financing programs require evidence of a legislative fiscal commitment, staff said the county will present a bond-authorizing resolution that establishes a maximum borrowing amount (with no immediate borrowing obligation) and documents legislative efforts to secure grant funding. The public hearing scheduled for July 23 will be used to satisfy hearing requirements tied to the bond authorization and the WQIP application, staff said.
The board discussed public-notice timing and agreed to schedule the hearing on July 23 before the county’s Physical Services committee dates so the committee and full legislature could consider required findings and any legislative requests on subsequent agendas. Staff said comments collected at a prior hearing are part of the administrative record and will be included with the new hearing record.
Remaining near-term tasks identified in the meeting included completing the geotechnical fieldwork, finishing the roof portion of the asbestos/lead survey, obtaining DEC’s technical review and interim effluent limits, and preparing grant applications and the Part 85 materials for submission. Staff also said they would continue coordinating with DOT about using or acquiring adjacent right-of-way for a secondary site entrance.
The advisory board concluded the update by asking staff to move the legislative requests and hearing paperwork through the county circulation so the July 23 hearing notice could be published within the statutory notice window and the related legislative actions could proceed to committee and the full legislature.
