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Carbondale staff outlines sewer, hydro and water-system projects; estimates big energy savings from blower upgrade
Summary
Scott Wenning, Carbondale staff liaison, briefed the Environmental Board on multiple utility projects, including a 50-horsepower wastewater blower replacement planned for March and a hydro control-panel installation targeted for April/May.
Scott Wenning, town staff liaison, updated the Carbondale Environmental Board on several town utility and infrastructure projects, emphasizing near-term work on wastewater, hydro generation, ditch maintenance and sewer replacement.
“My quick calculations show that this blower project that we're doing will save more energy than the hydro project will generate,” Wenning said of a planned wastewater blower upgrade. He described the unit as a 50-horsepower electric motor, about 3,500 pounds, with a variable-frequency drive (VFD); the town plans to install it in March and expects significant energy savings thereafter.
Wenning gave the board a schedule and status update on related items: the hydro project has a new vendor building an updated control panel, with installation planned for April and a hoped-for start-up in May; ditch maintenance work will begin Monday, Feb. 24, with town staff and temporary maintenance crews assisting; and a well casing at the Roaring Fork Well Field failed and the affected well — a shallow alluvial well described as roughly 40 feet deep — has been abandoned, with replacement and troubleshooting ongoing.
Wenning also said the town has put a 1,000-foot sewer replacement on Second Street (between Snowmass and Capitol) out for bid; construction is planned June 2–Aug. 20 and will take place outside school hours to reduce disruption. He said the town pulled a Department of Energy grant application for a proposed geothermal pipeline after learning the DOE funding was uncertain, citing concerns about installing a pipeline that might not be used.
On funding and planning, Wenning told the board there had been a one-time increase in the town’s bag-fee fund and suggested the Environmental Board could recommend uses consistent with the fund’s guidelines (waste reduction, recycling, related education). He also said Gwen (staff) is helping schedule a VCAPS (vulnerability, consequences and adaptive planning scenarios) work session, with three tentative dates in March and April.
Wenning asked the board to consult the town trustees’ recorded meetings on Highway 133 and noted broader town interest in electrification of town hall. No formal actions were taken on the infrastructure items during the meeting.
