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Wastewater board asks town to borrow $10.5 million for plant repairs; officials stress no capacity increase
Summary
The Wastewater Treatment Plant board proposed a $10.5 million borrowing for repairs to aging headworks and odor controls, saying the work replaces end‑of‑life equipment and will not increase treatment capacity; presenters said construction could take about two years and costs include contingency and project‑management fees.
The Select Board heard a detailed presentation on Article 16, a request to raise or borrow $10,500,000 for capital repairs and improvements to the Westborough Wastewater Treatment Plant. Darlene Domingos, administrator for the plant board, introduced the proposal and said it pays for work including replacement of UV influent slide gates, replacement of grit screws and classifier systems, the headworks motor control center, odor‑control scrubber upgrades and related electrical and building modifications.
"This article will pay for various improvements at the treatment plant including but not limited to replacement of the UV influent slide gates," Darlene Domingos said, describing the scope and the rationale that many components date from the facility’s 1987 construction. AECOM consultant Walt Chaffee described the cost estimate as a Class 2 engineering estimate and said the construction portion is $7,008,000 of the total before contingency, construction‑phase engineering and administrative allowances.
Board members asked for details on schedule, oversight and cost components. Chaffee estimated the construction period at about two years but said work would not represent continuous heavy construction because of equipment ordering and phasing. "It won't be a continuous two years," he said, adding the project includes an owner's project manager (OPM) and construction‑phase engineering budget as required under Massachusetts Chapter 149 for projects above $1.5 million.
Select Board liaison to the wastewater board, who identified himself as Patrick, thanked the plant board and consultants for the months of work and described his site visit, saying "it was very clear that there were sections of this that were tired." Several board members pressed whether the work would increase treatment capacity; presenters repeatedly said it would not. "There's no increase to capacity with these improvements," Darlene Domingos said, adding an additional odor scrubber provides redundancy but does not expand flow capacity.
Town staff said the borrowing would require a two‑thirds vote at town meeting and that the town would borrow as needed over the project timeline; project costs would be apportioned among member communities based on flow. Domingos provided current flow apportionment figures and said, based on 2025 flows, Westborough would pay roughly 37% of the debt service for the measure.
No formal vote on the article occurred at the Select Board meeting; presenters said they expect more fixed bid numbers before Annual Town Meeting and noted a non‑mandatory plant tour and sub‑bid openings scheduled ahead of the March bid opening. The board asked that the wastewater treatment plant board present town‑meeting‑ready figures when the article is finalized.
The board moved on to the next warrant items after the presentation; the plant board expects to have final bid numbers available in time for town meeting.
