County seeks additional Clean Water Trust funds for septic replacements and sewer connections

Barnstable County commissioners voted Feb. 11 to authorize a supplemental appropriation and to introduce an ordinance seeking renewed Massachusetts Clean Water Trust loan authority for the county’s Aquafund program, which finances septic system replacements and sewer‑connection work across Cape Cod.

Brian Baumgartel, director of the Wastewater Division, told commissioners that since a prior borrowing of about $13 million the program has loaned roughly $10 million to projects across the region. He presented a multi‑year demand estimate of roughly 15,000 parcels that could seek sewer connections over the next decade and said construction‑sector inflation could push total connection costs into the low‑hundreds of millions (Baumgartel gave median scenarios of roughly $214 million to $250 million in various inflation cases). Near‑term program demand for the county’s lending program was estimated in a median scenario at about $7.8 million per year.

Baumgartel explained the county’s tiered loan structure: some loans are 0% or 2% by income and project type, while other standard loans may be at a 4% rate; the county uses program interest to sustain staffing and reserves. Commissioners noted the Clean Water Trust’s federal funding sensitivity and discussed pursuing congressional earmarks to bolster the program’s capital base.

The motion to introduce a supplemental appropriation ordinance to anticipate Clean Water Trust funds passed by voice vote; county staff said the borrowed funds are lent out and largely revolve back to the program as loans are repaid, and they will continue outreach to towns about pipeline timing.