Stonington sewer repairs estimated to cost over $2.9 million
Stonington — Water Pollution Control Authority Director Douglas Nettleton told the Board of Finance this week that badly needed repairs and replacement of equipment at the town sewer pumping station and plants could cost more than $2.9 million.
Nettleton's report came after finance board member Lynn Young, during discussions about possibly bonding for new sidewalks and school repairs at a recent meeting, suggested the board also consider adding in sewer system repairs.
Nettleton told the board that while he was asked to estimate sewer-related capital improvement spending over the next three to five years, many of the repairs are critical and need to be done now.
He pointed out that the almost $3 million cost is over and above the $2.5 million being spent in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 budgets to divert sewage from the overburdened Mystic treatment plant to the underused borough plant and any work that may be required as a result of an inflow and infiltration study set to begin this fall, which will identify additional sources of water that is getting into the sewer system.
Nettleton told the board that many of the town's 16 pump stations are in "dire straits."
"It's got to the point where we can't look the other way anymore," he said. "Some of them are in pretty tough shape."
For example, Nettleton said he can't service the two pumps in the station along River Road in Pawcatuck because if he removes one from service and the other breaks down, he does not have a third pump as a backup. In addition, he said it would take 16 weeks to order a new one and have it delivered.
"This is so bad. It's what keeps people up at night," he said. "It's a big deal not to have a spare pump."
Board member Tim O'Brien told Nettleton that his report "allows us to see the scope of magnitude of what we are facing."
Nettleton now will fine-tune some of the cost estimates while the finance board will discuss how it might fund the work, whether through bonding, allocations in upcoming budgets or using some of the town's undesignated surplus.
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