BELLOWS FALLS — With the Village entering the final phase of the 20-year wastewater improvement project, Trustees are set to ask voters at the annual village election on May 20 to approve a $6 million bond to fund it.
Voters here approved a separate water-service bond in March. Bellows Falls voters passed an $8.2 million bond at a special vote in March to fund an improvement project to replace the water delivery system in conjunction with a planned state road improvement project.
A biosolids handling improvement project is the next and final phase of a 20-year wastewater plant improvement project. The $6 million bond would replace digesters, sludge pumps, de-watering primary and secondary clarifiers, chlorine contact tanks, and collection-pump stations.
Water and wastewater budgets
In discussions with the board in March, Municipal Manager Chip Stearns said that the approved $8.2 million water system bond, which will cover the Final Design Phase II Water System Improvements, was not included in the fiscal year 2015 Village budget.
The Trustees adopted a Bellows Falls Water Department budget of $964,655, with $794,232 to be raised by user fees. This would represent a 5 percent rate hike for FY2015, effective with the September 2014 billing.
Stearns told the board in March that the Wastewater Department fund is “a huge concern.” He said a 10 percent increase will generate only $515,573 of the $935,367 needed. A 10 percent increase will still leave a $73,265 deficit in the Wastewater Fund “if everything goes perfectly,” he told the board.
The Trustees unanimously adopted the Wastewater Department budget for FY2015 with expenditures of $946,810, with user fees to raise $588,803.
Stearns noted that a 10 percent increase in wastewater rates for a $400 invoice will show a $40 increase. The 10 percent increase passed unanimously.
A preliminary engineering study for the biosolids at the wastewater plant, which is the final phase of the 20-year upgrade, anticipated construction costs would run approximately $6 million.
The board approved the bond vote, but Trustee Andrew Smith noted that the board vote did not presume passage of the bill, and that hearings are required. These are scheduled for Tuesday, May 13, and Monday, May 19, prior to the May 20 Australian ballot vote.
Village budget
Village voters will decide on a budget of $1,851,602 in expenditures, with $1,803,252 to be raised by taxes. The General Fund-proposed budget for FY2015 includes the following:
• Police and fire building: $5,000 allocated to the Capital Fund for roof repair; $4,500 was set aside in this year's budget, and engineers anticipate that the work can come in at $9,500.
• Fire Department payroll: Anticipates, and asks for, a 3.4 percent increase pending union negotiations.
• Contributions to the Vermont Municipal Employees' Retirement System have increased to 7 percent.
• Fire Department dispatch budget rises from zero to $32,000 due to the dispatch takeover by the Windham County Sheriff for the Police Department, making it necessary to use Keene Mutual Aid for fire and ambulance dispatch.
• Fire Department benefits coverage increases by 3.4 percent, and the equipment budget increased by $15,000 over the FY 2014 budget, due to the purchase of new equipment and projected costs of diesel fuel for a new truck.
• Police Department shows a 17.1 percent budget reduction in dispatch services due to the switch to Windham County Sheriff's dispatch services.
During board budget discussions, an additional $6,500 was approved, at the request of Trustee Smith, to the ordinance enforcement line item to make monies available to remediate unsafe buildings, to fund structural engineering inspections, and the like, and to pursue unsafe building ordinance violations.
As proposed, the budget would increase the tax rate by approximately 1 cent per $100 of assessed value. Should voters also approve the purchase of a requested $42,000 Fire Department diesel vehicle - a separate article - the tax rate would climb another half-cent on that $100 assessed value.