Old Lyme — The hopes of those who have been working for years to resolve pollution flowing from local beach communities into Long Island Sound are now resting on the federal government.

Old Colony Beach Association President Douglas Whalen on Wednesday said the four beach communities that have been involved in devising a shared sewer system are looking for between $6 million and $10 million to bridge the gap between what residents agreed to pay and the ever-rising cost of construction.

"The project is moving forward, we're just sort of in a pause until some of this grant money gets released," he said. In what he called an aggressive timeline, he estimated construction could begin in late winter of 2022 if "the funding falls into place."

Whalen said the sewer system will cost residents of Old Colony Beach Association $2,300 a year, based on a 20-year note at 2% interest through the state.

The associations governing Old Colony Beach, Old Lyme Shores Beach and Miami Beach, which are chartered neighborhoods and considered their own municipalities, approved the project at separate referendums. The public Sound View Beach came on after a townwide vote.

President Joe Biden in November signed a bipartisan, $1 trillion infrastructure deal into law. In the area of water infrastructure, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said the package will increase resources for states over the next five years to support the construction or improvement of local drinking water and wastewater facilities.

The U.S. Environmental Protection agency in a December release said the state will receive $76.91 million to upgrade water infrastructure as part of the federal spending package, "with nearly half of this funding available as grants or principal forgiveness loans that remove barriers to investing in essential water infrastructure in underserved communities across rural America and in urban centers."

Neil McKiernan, a spokesman for Courtney, confirmed the congressman's office has been "in regular touch" with members of the beach associations and local officials on the issue. He noted the water and wastewater programs have not yet been implemented.

Old Lyme Water Pollution Control Authority Chairman Richard Prendergast on Tuesday told members of the commission that local officials are looking for grants, not loans. "They need to lower the overall project cost," he said.

Gov. Ned Lamont in December tapped state Department of Revenue Services Commissioner Mark Boughton to serve as senior adviser for infrastructure to coordinate the rollout of funds across state agencies, according to a release. Boughton was formerly the mayor of Danbury.

The effort to secure federal funding is the latest step toward installation of sewer lines to homes in the popular beach area that has been closely monitored for years by state environmental officials. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has mandated something be done to reduce groundwater pollution and potential for pollutants entering the Sound.

'Shovel ready'

The planned system for the four beach communities revolves around a shared pump station — to be located in the Sound View neighborhood — as well as a force main pipe, enabling all four entities to send their sewage through East Lyme to New London for treatment.

The cost of the shared infrastructure, originally estimated at roughly $9 million by project engineers with Fuss & O'Neill of Manchester, has proved to be higher than anticipated.

Old Lyme Shores Beach Association President Matt Merritt on Wednesday said more than a decade of planning couldn't have culminated in a more "perfect storm."

"Right in the crosshairs of COVID, after 10 years of planning, we went out to bid," he said.

Two rounds of bids — first presented as one big project in the spring and then separated into parts in the fall — came back higher than the amount approved in separate votes held over the years by the private beach associations and the town of Old Lyme.

Prendergast at Tuesday's WPCA meeting said the second round of bids were lower "but still too high for the town's liking and the associations' liking." He told members the beach associations are looking at going out to bid again this year or early next year when pandemic-related price surges have normalized.

Whalen was optimistic that the release of federal funds could allow the project to go back out to bid in the late summer or early fall. Describing the project as "shovel ready," he said all the work that has been done so far should make it more likely that it will be deemed a good candidate for federal funding.

He said officials also are seeking infrastructure funds to address flooding that has been affecting the beach communities.

Merritt and Whalen both noted that a DEEP grant for design work has been extended a year because state officials understood why the project has stalled.

If the grant hadn't been extended, the associations would have had to pay back costs accrued so far for things like engineering and legal fees. For Old Colony Beach Association alone, Whalen said that amount could be "north of $1 million."

Merritt, when asked what the options are if the funding doesn't come through, said that's a what-if that's always been in the back of officials' minds — though it now has "come to the forefront."

But he said there have not been any formal conversations with DEEP about other ways to address pollution that will satisfy the regulatory agency.

"That could be new septic tanks for those that have failed; it could be pumping out on a more regular basis those septic tanks we already have," Merritt said. "We're just not sure."

He said those talks with DEEP haven't happened yet because local officials remain "laser focused" on securing federal funds so they can build their sewer system.

According to Whalen, there aren't a lot of options on small lots that don't have the square footage to upgrade their septic system to meet the state's standards.

"The project needs to move forward because there's no other possibilities, that I know of, to get it cleaned up," he said.

e.regan@theday.com