City staff propose half‑million‑gallon tank at Houghton Park, recommend $4M bond to curb overflows into Stevens Brook and St. Albans Bay

Chip, a city staff member, told the meeting the city’s combined sewer system — which carries both sewage and stormwater — overflows into Stevens Brook during storm events and large snow melts and that the city is under a state order to mitigate the discharges.

“The city section of our sewage system that also takes in stormwater is considered our combined sewer system,” Chip said. “During storm events and also big snow melts, it will be too much … it will actually overflow at the intersection of the South Elm and Lower Weldon. It goes into Stevens Brook.”

Chip described a proposed engineering solution: an underground storage tank at the edge of Houghton Park large enough to hold about 500,000 gallons of combined sewage and stormwater. He said that volume would “eliminate the vast majority of the overflow events that we typically get,” because most overflow events are under 500,000 gallons, and that storing the water would allow the city to monitor and decide next steps with the state.

The project cost is $6,800,000, Chip said. The city has about $2,800,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds available that expire before 2026, and staff expect a $1,000,000 state grant; the remainder — roughly $3,000,000 — would be financed with a Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan. Because the state loan program requires voter authorization of the debt and the grant in the bond article, staff proposed a $4,000,000 bond article to voters to enable use of the loan and the grant.

Chip stressed that the city would likely incur only about $3,000,000 in new debt because some additional forgiveness or subsidy could become available when the loan is taken out. He also said debt service on the loan would be paid from wastewater user fees and would not be assessed on the city tax bill.

City officials and other speakers compared the storage approach with full sewer/stormwater separation. One attendee asked whether separating systems would be preferable. Chip responded that separation would be “a much larger undertaking,” involving digging up streets and relocating utilities, and that state technical staff (DEC) had told him centralized storage is the more practical solution.

Officials discussed timing: if voters authorize the bond, staff expect to go to bid within a couple of months and aim to begin construction in August; the build is expected to take roughly 18 months. Chip said the tank can be sited to avoid disrupting the portions of Houghton Park most used by community groups; staff noted they would coordinate with the Steelers about temporary game locations during construction.

Questions raised at the meeting included whether the ARPA and state grant funding would be available when the city needs them and whether delays or loss of those funds could raise the city’s share toward the full project cost. One speaker warned that if grant funds are not available, the city could face the larger $6.8 million cost or more.

Next steps described at the meeting: staff plan to include the $4,000,000 bond article language for voter consideration (town meeting language), pursue the state grant and Clean Water SRF loan, and go to bid if voters approve the bond and the other funding pieces fall into place. Final financing terms, grant awards and any additional subsidy were not determined at the meeting.

Ending: The project is presented as the city’s immediate approach to comply with the state order and reduce pollution into Stevens Brook and St. Albans Bay. Key unresolved items are final grant awards, the exact loan amount and any additional state forgiveness that could reduce city debt; those items remain to be decided after voter consideration of the bond and state/federal funding approvals.