FTM for $6m Wastewater Bond is Dec. 1

East Greenwich voters will be asked to vote on Dec. 1 to approve $6 million in bonds to make necessary repairs and upgrades at the town’s wastewater treatment facility.

The facility, which discharges treated sewage and drain water into Greenwich Cove, is not meeting environmental standards imposed by the state.

According to town officials, efforts to improve the nitrogen removal process at the plant over the course of the spring and summer this year “produced marginal results.”

Tighe & Bond was hired to analyze the facility and come up with a corrective action plan.

Their study identified the facility’s rotating biological contactors as a primary reason for the poor results. The structures, which are 26 years old and at the end of their useful lives, are simply not up to the task, town officials said.

The high nitrogen levels are caused by the failing RBCs, which have not been properly treating “excessive solids.”

Harsh weather and age has caused the town to make numerous repairs in recent years to the RBCs, which have extended their life and delayed the need for the issuance of bonds, but “at this point, however, it has become clear that this equipment now must be replaced to be reliable and to meet the town’s obligations under [state] rules,” Town Manager Thomas E. Coyle III said in a statement.

The pressure to get the RBCs is driven by economic and environmental concerns. There’s no question that the town wants to improve water quality in the bay and reduce the discharge of nitrogen.

Officials also want to avoid the potential for $25,000 per day fines that could be imposed by the state Department of Environmental Management if the repairs are not made.

The treatment facility operates with a permit from the DEM and the town could find itself in non-compliance with the discharge permit.

“The town really does not have a choice,” Coyle said.

The $6 million cost would blow up the town’s annual budget, so the Town Council has oped to use bonds to pay. That means East Greenwich voters must give the OK. And with the clock ticking, the FTM provides the fastest route.

“The authorization of the bonds needs to take place now because the lead time necessary to commence this project and to obtain this funding through the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank,” Coyle said in the statement.

According to town documents, the bonds through the RIIB will enable the town to borrow at a discounted interest rate of 2.47 percent. Thats a 33 percent discount of the market rate of 3.75 percent.

Though the town can use general funds for debt service, these bonds will be paid for from sewer usage fees, not general taxes. That means voters won’t necessarily be voting for a supplemental tax increase when they vote in the Dec. 1 FTM, town officials said.

The full $6 million would not be issued all at once, either.

“The actual amount sold at the timing will depend on the bids receieved and the actual work schedule,” Coyle said.

The new debt service for the bonds won’t appear in the sewer budget until fiscal 2019.

The FTM will be held at 6:30 p.m. at East Greenwich High School.