Norwich – The City Council Wednesday approved a $19.9 million Norwich Public Utilities bond for water system improvements and a $3.2 million sewer bond to design the separation of a combined sewer and storm water system on the East Side.

Neither of the bonding ordinances affect city taxpayers, NPU General Manager John Bilda said, and the sewer system design project also will not affect current sewer rates, since NPU has a sewer system upgrade charge in place to cover some projects. The $19.9 million water upgrades is expected to lead to a 4 percent water rate increase beginning in 2020, about $2 per month, Bilda said.

Several speakers at a public hearing prior to the vote spoke against the $19.9 million water projects ordinance, objecting specifically to a $3.2 million water line included in the bond that will run along Route 97 to the Baltic section of Sprague. Residents complained that Norwich should not be paying for a line into a neighboring town without that town being asked to pay for the line.

The council voted 5-2 in favor of the water bond, with Republicans William Nash and Council President Pro Tempore Peter Nystrom voting against the water bond. The council approved the sewer bond unanimously.

Bilda said the state Department of Public Health officials asked NPU to include the $3.2 million Sprague water line in its package of water quality improvement projects – which includes four water quality upgrade components. By including the Sprague component, the entire proposed package qualifies for greater percentage of grant funding through the state Clean Water Fund as a regional project.

The water system bond ordinance includes $16.7 million in upgrades to the city's water system to address state-mandated water quality improvements, including $7 million for a filtration system at the Stony Brook Reservoir, an $825,000 water aeration system at the Occum water tank, a $2 million sand filtration system at the Deep River Reservoir and a $5.4 million upgrade to a 1925 water main from the Stony Brook Reservoir.

The four city projects now qualify for 30 percent grant and 70 percent low-interest loan from the Clean Water Fund, while the Sprague water line qualifies for a 50 percent grant and 50 percent loan. Previously, the Norwich water projects would have qualified for only 8 percent grant coverage, Bilda said.

The City Council had approved earlier versions of the water system improvement ordinances, but Bilda said since then, state and federal water quality regulations have stiffened in reaction to the Flint, Mich. water crisis and the state also tightened water quality standards to the point where Norwich water sometimes does not meet the state quality requirements.

The water system improvements will address the issues, he said.

The sewer bond will cover the design for a plan to separate combined sewers and storm drains along several streets in the East Side, including Smith Avenue, Mowry Avenue and Donahue Drive. Bilda said this is one of 14 sections of the city that still have combined sewers and storm drains. During heavy rain, Bilda said, the system becomes overwhelmed and releases raw sewage into the Shetucket River at the Eighth Street Bridge.

Bilda said the city is under state mandate to separate the combined systems, and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection will allow Norwich to delay action on future separation projects to allow NPU to review the effectiveness of the East Side project first.

c.bessette@theday.com