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Rutland Town to investigate recurring sewer blockages near Route 7; engineer design recommended
Summary
Road commissioner reported repeated sewer plugs near the Days Inn/Route 7 corridor, including large bottles and debris recovered from manholes. The board authorized staff to pursue engineering designs and business site visits; a rough repair estimate was described by staff as in the 'couple hundred thousand' range.
Town Road Commissioner Dave Sears told the Rutland Town Select Board on Nov. 19 that crews have repeatedly found large containers, Styrofoam and other debris causing recurring sewer plugs on the south end of town near the Days Inn and Route 7 corridor. Sears said field inspections turned up evidence suggesting materials are entering the system near commercial properties and recommended coordinated visits and engineering design work to fix the undersized pipe and compromised manholes.
Sears asked the board to authorize staff to work with an engineering firm (Otter Creek was named as a possible designer) to scope a permanent repair. "It appears that there are soft drink containers coming from Days Inn," Sears said during the report, and staff recommended outreach to the businesses and joint site visits with the health officer and code staff to verify grease traps and other practices.
During discussion staff described technical options including directional boring or pipe replacement to cross Route 7 without extensive open cutting. A preliminary, speaker-attributed order-of-magnitude estimate for design and construction was given in the "couple hundred thousand" range; a presenter mentioned roughly $300,000 as a working figure while stressing the figure is preliminary and that the engineer should recommend the preferred approach.
Board direction and next steps: staff are authorized to coordinate inspections and begin engineering conversations; the health officer will join business visits (Days Inn, Denny’s and the car wash were named) and staff will prepare costed design options for future board consideration.
