Residents press Lowell council over sewer-project spending and urge vote on treatment plant; action deferred

Chair (speaker 3) opened the public-comment portion of the meeting and heard extended criticism of recent sewer-system work and grant accounting. Richard Lynch (613 White Oak Drive) reviewed a city report and grant numbers, saying the city received about $1.7 million for a CDVG sewer-rehabilitation project, used roughly $581,000 to inspect 5,428 feet of sewer and 61 service laterals, paid $107,000 in administrative and consulting fees, and repaired 4,287 feet of sewer line that served 158 people. “We have spent over 1 and a quarter million dollars on a sewer system, and all we have to show for it is 4,287 feet of repaired sewer line and a 600 plus page report,” Lynch said, adding the math implies roughly $4,300 per person served on the project.

Lynch told the council the grant report asserts the project area is at least 51% low- and moderate-income (LMI), and he said the city is now being told it must return about $1 million that was not spent because staff “cannot find enough LMI areas to spend it on.” He urged the council to put the city’s wastewater-treatment-plant decision to an up-or-down vote and to pursue a previously discussed $5 million state revolving fund low-interest loan if the city chooses to keep the plant.

Kelvin Monteith, who identified himself as a treasurer and church officer with Reformation Orthodox Presbyterian Church, said a January sewage backup flooded his church’s first floor and caused more than $80,000 in damage. Monteith told council members the Ryan/Oakland Street lift station routinely alarms during rain events and said city staff had not returned calls. “We’re just asking for some courtesy of a phone call and direct communication so we can meet together and work it out,” Monteith said.

Council members acknowledged the concerns, asked staff to follow up, and discussed scheduling. Committee member (speaker 2) said the council had obtained “more information on this wastewater treatment plant” and that the city would not spend more on studies before returning to the topic. The council formally pulled agenda item 6d (the wastewater-treatment-plant matter) and agreed to discuss it at a forthcoming budget retreat; Chair confirmed “there’ll be no action taken on the sewer plant tonight.”

The meeting record shows no council vote on the plant during this session. The council asked staff to prepare additional information and to be ready to discuss the plant during the scheduled budget-retreat sessions so members could consider financial options alongside the larger budget.

Next steps: the wastewater-plant item will be revisited at the council’s budget retreat; council members directed staff to provide clarifying documentation and to answer specific questions about the grant accounting and LMI designations.