Phase three construction moves forward after low bid; board to review Violia contract renewal

Town and DPW staff told the board that phase three construction for the wastewater program has cleared a key administrative step: State Revolving Fund (SRF) staff have approved authorization to award the construction contract and the low bid (including add alternates) was about $18.5 million, below the project construction projection of $24.4 million. Counsel and staff said the contract is expected to be executed imminently and a pre-construction meeting will be scheduled.

Officials said the lower-than-expected bid leaves room within the appropriation and staff estimated the town could return up to about $10 million of appropriated funds over subsequent phases. Phase two construction is largely complete with only punch-list items remaining.

Violia, the town’s operations contractor, reported typical summer flows and that the plant is fully staffed; Violia recorded about 3 million gallons of intake and roughly 500,000 gallons of septage for the month and peak average flows of about 100,000 gallons per day. Staff said Utility Cloud asset-management software is being implemented for mapping and work-order management.

Board members raised a separate operational concern: the five effluent discharge "wicks" used for groundwater discharge have become shallower in some locations (comments noted a depth change from roughly 80–90 feet to about 40 feet), and commissioners asked whether shallower wicks change discharge hydrodynamics or long-term effectiveness. Staff said monitoring is ongoing and that engineering assessment and potential re-permitting will be required; they proposed inviting Tim Harrison (AON) and Wright-Pierce consultants to present wick monitoring data at a future meeting.

Separately, staff advised the board the Violia contract includes renewal options up to 20 years (municipal limit) and that staff will provide a draft contract and a recommendation on whether to extend by five years at the next meeting; notice to Violia is required six months before the renewal decision window.