Westborough to borrow $10.5 million for wastewater treatment plant upgrades

The Advisory Finance Committee recommended that Town Meeting authorize borrowing $10.5 million for capital repairs and upgrades at the Westborough Wastewater Treatment Plant, citing aging equipment, corrosion concerns and the need to maintain continuous operation during phased construction.

Darlene Domingos, administrator for the Westborough Treatment Plant Board, outlined the scope: replacement of ultraviolet disinfection slide gates, new grit screws and grit‑classifier systems, replacement of the wet‑well exhaust fan, a new odor‑control scrubber for redundancy, replacement of corrosion‑worn motor control center (MCC) panels to meet current electrical code, relocation of the auto‑sampler within the headworks area, and other building modifications. "The headworks area was originally built in 1987. So we're dealing with equipment that's about 40 years old, which is probably about 10 years past its lifetime," Domingos said.

Engineering estimates from AECOM were presented: headworks construction roughly $3.85 million, electrical upgrades roughly $2.66 million, mobilization and miscellaneous items adding to a basic construction subtotal near $7.0 million; with owner contingency, construction‑phase services, and an owner's project manager (required by state law for projects over $5 million) the total ask reached $10.5 million.

The treatment plant is run under an intermunicipal agreement shared with Shrewsbury and Hopkinton. Domingos and board members said debt service and capital spending are apportioned to participating towns by flow: roughly 57% Shrewsbury, 38% Westborough and 5% Hopkinton. Committee members sought and received clarification that the plant’s portion of borrowing is carried on Westborough’s books but that ongoing debt service and operating costs are recovered via sewer user rates from each participating town.

The committee discussed project timing, the need to preserve continuous treatment while replacing components in phases, and whether smaller annual projects could have spread costs. Presenters noted previous large capital work (rotor replacement) and explained that the headworks electrical and corrosion‑related repairs are beyond normal in‑house maintenance and require planned capital investment.

The Advisory Finance Committee voted to recommend borrowing $10,500,000 (Article 16) and will forward that recommendation to Town Meeting. Committee members asked staff to provide additional details about schedule, estimated annual debt service and projected rate impacts for residents to accompany Town Meeting materials.

Why it matters: Upgrades address equipment at or past typical life expectancy and help prevent service interruptions, regulatory noncompliance and neighborhood odor impacts. The multiyear, phased nature of the work and the shared‑cost arrangement mean the borrow and resulting rate impacts should be explained to ratepayers before final approval.

Next steps: AFC’s recommendation will be sent to Town Meeting; plant managers and finance staff said the work will be phased to avoid a full shutdown and that a project manager will oversee construction and coordination with the contract operator (Veolia).