Bolton Lakes Sewer System Project
What is the BLRWPCA?
Where are the sewers going to be installed?
Is my property included in the sewer system?
Why are low pressure sewers being used?
The BLWPCA will be responsible for installing and maintaining the grinder pumps, and the cost will be included in the overall project cost. The BLRWPCA will enter an agreement with property owners to allow entry to your properties to install and maintain the pumps.
What happens with the grinder pumps if electrical power goes out?
How much is this project going to cost?
How is the sewer project going to be funded?
Capital Costs:
Why do we have to install sewers?
This sewer system will:
What is the next step in the sewer project?
Are there advantages to passing this Ordinance now rather than later?
Once the project is approved, when can we expect to see construction start?
What will I happen once the BLRWPCA's contractor has finished installing sewers in my area?
This project has been discussed for many years. How come it has taken so long to get the project before the Town voters for approval?
Frequently Asked Questions
August 8, 2005
The Bolton Lakes Regional Water Pollution Control Authority (BLRWPCA) has been formed by the Towns of Vernon and Bolton, and is responsible for all aspects of planning, designing, constructing and operating the proposed Bolton Lakes Sewer System. The Authority has 5 members from the Town of Bolton and 3 members from the Town of Vernon.
The sewer will run generally along Route 44 from Manchester to Coventry, and serve properties around Middle and Lower Bolton Lakes. Some larger lots on the western shore are excluded.
A sewer service area has been established. A map has been prepared entitled the BLRWPCA Sewer Service Area Map. A copy of this map will be displayed at both the Vernon and Bolton Town Halls for you to see.
Where will the wastewater go for treatment and disposal?
The sewer pipes will carry wastewater from the service area to the Town of Manchester Water Pollution Control Facility. The highly treated effluent will be discharged to the Hockanum River. The BLRWPCA is negotiating an agreement with the Town of Manchester to accept the wastewater from the Bolton Lakes Sewer System.
What type of sewer system will be installed?
With the exception of the main trunk line to Manchester, the sewer system will be a low pressure sewer (LPS) system. The LPS system uses small diameter (2- to 4-inch) pipes and grinder pumps at each building. The grinder pumps are installed to provide the pressure to pump the wastewater to a main pump station along Route 44 west of the lakes, which in turn will pump the wastewater to Manchester.
A low pressure sewer system allows sewer piping to follow the natural topography of the land, and uses much shallower and smaller diameter piping than conventional gravity sewers. This will be significantly less disruptive and less expensive around the lakes compared to a gravity sewer system, which use larger diameter, deep pipes. Also the LPS system will avoid the need for multiple larger pump stations around the lakes.
What do I need to know about grinder pumps?
Your grinder pump will be situated in a chamber located outside your house or building, and will grind up and pump wastewater to a pressure sewer in the street. The chamber will be located underground with the exception of the cover which will extend about 6 inches above grade. A control panel will be located on the outside wall of your building near the tank.
The grinder pumps will not operate without electricity. Most of the sewer service area is served by private wells, and these would also cease to operate in a power outage, so water would not be used nor wastewater generated in an outage. The pump chamber will provide volume for approximately a day's worth of wastewater storage to accommodate outages. As an additional measure the systems will be supplied with special plugs so that portable generators could be used to pump down the chambers in the case of a prolonged power failure.
The total project cost is estimated to be approximately $17 million dollars. This is projected over the 6 years for the project and includes inflation costs.
The Towns and the BLRWPCA have worked hard to line up significant grant funding for the sewer project. Funding for this project is expected to come from 5 different sources:
1. The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection Clean Water fund - which will be providing grants and long term (20 year) loans
2. The United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development program - which will be providing grants and short term loans
3. The users of the system through sewer benefit assessments
4. The Town of Bolton will provide some funding via taxes
5. The Town of Vernon will provide some funding via taxes
What fees/costs will I have to pay if I am served by the sewer system?
If you own property within the Sewer Service Area you will be expected to pay your share of both the capital and operating costs of the system, as follows:
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A sewer benefit assessment to cover a portion of the costs of construction of the sewer system. BLRWPCA has set the assessment amount at $10,000 per "equivalent dwelling unit". This can be paid all at once or the BLRWPCA will finance this over the duration of its loans. The annual loan payment will be $612 per year for 20 years
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Once the system has been installed in your area, you will be notified to hook up to the system. You will be responsible for the costs associated with connecting your building to the newly installed grinder pump, and crushing and filling your existing septic tank per the BLRWPCA requirements. This cost is estimated to be between $500 and $1500.
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There will be a small tax increase to all tax payers of Bolton and Vernon as a result of the financing for this project. It has been estimated that the increase will be 0.35 mils in Bolton and 0.05 mils in Vernon.
Operating Costs:
An annual usage fee will be charged to cover the costs of operation and maintenance of the sewer system as well as the costs associated with the treatment of the waste. This fee will be related to wastewater generation at each property, but since water use is generally not metered in the sewer service area, the charge will be based on estimated flows (e.g. the number of equivalent dwelling units). The BLRWPCA will send each user of the system a bill for these charges, the annual average has been estimated at $450 per equivalent dwelling unit.
The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued Consent Orders to the Towns of Bolton and Vernon to install sewers to improve wastewater disposal at the homes within the sewer service area. The primary reasons that on-site septic systems are inadequate as a long term solution are the very small lots in the service area, shallow groundwater, poorly draining soils and proximity to both drinking water wells and the Bolton Lakes. Several engineering studies have concluded that off-site disposal, i.e. sewers, are needed, and the DEP is requiring the Towns to follow these conclusions.
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Protect the Lakes by improving the quality of the surface and ground water entering the lakes
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Remove current limitations in water use at times of high groundwater levels
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Improve property values
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Lessen current constraints for use of properties along Route 44, which can promote economic development in accordance with the Town of Bolton's Plan of Conservation and Development
What is a DEP Consent Order?
This is an order by the DEP to an entity requiring them to take a specific set of actions in response to the entity having caused an environmental problem, in which the entity agrees to take such action. In our case, the DEP and the Towns of Bolton and Vernon signed Consent Orders to the respective towns agreeing that the towns would install sewers to the Bolton Lakes area by certain dates, subject to significant fines if they did not comply.
Voters in both Bolton and Vernon must vote approval for the project. This will be in the form of a vote to approve a Financing Ordinance, which will authorize the BLRWPCA to proceed with the project and its funding, and guaranteeing financial support from the two towns for their pro rata share of the project cost. The referendums are expected to be scheduled for September 27, 2005.
Who will vote on the referendums?
All registered voters and qualifying property owners in both Bolton and Vernon will be eligible to vote in their respective referenda. The voting is important whether residents are in the sewer service area or not.
Yes, definitely! The Towns have a unique opportunity to obtain over 50 percent grant funding for the project because the towns have been able to line up both DEP and USDA funding. There is no guarantee that these programs will be available in the future, and certainly not at these levels. In fact, USDA has never provided Rural Development funding to a community that did not pass a referendum supporting a funded project. Also, the longer the project waits the more the construction costs will escalate.
It is anticipated that the first construction project would start in spring 2007. Some of the activities that need to be completed after funding is approved include:
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Survey, base mapping, soil borings and design
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Permits must be obtained from all applicable local, state, federal agencies, including the Connecticut DEP and DOT
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The contract(s) will be put out for competitive bidding, and awarded to a qualified, certified contractor
What is the schedule for installing sewers?
The Sewer System is planned to be broken into five phases, or contracts, in order to maximize the amount of grants going to the BLRWPCA. These contracts would be bid on an annual basis starting in 2007, with the last bid in 2011, with construction expected to wrap up in early 2012. Phases are expected to proceed from downstream in Manchester in an easterly direction, wrapping up around Middle Bolton Lake in Vernon.
Once the contractor is finished in your area, you will receive a letter from the BLRWPCA requiring you to connect to the sewer within a certain time frame. To accomplish this, you will need to:
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Complete an application for a sewer connection, which when approved, will become your permit
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Hire a licensed contractor to connect your house plumbing to the new grinder pump chamber, which will have been installed by BLRWPCA's contractor.
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Have your existing septic tank crushed and filled in accordance with guidelines set by the BLRWPCA. This is for safety reasons.
My septic system is working fine, do I have to hook up to the system?
Yes, all developed properties within the Sewer Service Area must hook up to the new sewer system. While septic systems may appear to be working adequately from the surface, the soils, shallow groundwater and small lot size cause these discharges to have a negative impact to the environment and to pose a threat to public health through well contamination.
Yes, the project has taken a long time to make it to this stage. Some of the more time intensive reasons include:
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While the State statutory framework has been in existence for more than a decade, this is the first Regional Water Pollution Control Authority to be established in the State of Connecticut. Setting up the BLRWPCA and developing the appropriate documents has proven to be a significant challenge.
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The Towns have been working closely with representatives of both DEP's Clean Water Fund and USDA's Rural Development program to optimize the amount of grants these agencies will provide to the BLRWPCA. The costs for this project are significant, and the Bolton Lakes Region has had to compete with other municipalities for any available funds. The availability of funding for this project has had a great influence on the scheduling of this project.
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The financing plan for implementing the Bolton Lakes Sewer System has required ground-breaking arrangements between the Towns, and several State and Federal agencies in order to provide cost-effective arrangements for both short and long term financing.
What happens if one or both Towns vote down the Funding Ordinance?
Approval by both Towns is needed to proceed with the project. If there is a negative vote the Towns still need to comply with the DEP Consent Order, and eventually the DEP will enforce these requirements through the courts, and the Towns would be subject to significant fines if they do not comply. Voting against the Financing Ordinance now will put the significant grant and loan funding the BLRWPCA has lined up at serious risk. This may put the Towns in a position where they would need to construct the sewer system to satisfy the Consent Order, but without grant assistance, i.e. at much greater cost to the Towns.
