By Susan MacEachron

Voters at the annual meeting of the Norfolk Sewer District at Town Hall on May 19 approved a resolution to fund major repair and maintenance work on Norfolk’s system. The Norfolk sewer system, established in 1897, is undergoing a project to reline and replace all of its pipes. The project is being managed by Green Mountain Pipelining Services from Vermont and is close to 50% complete.

The project is intended to prevent the infiltration of storm water into the pipes. The flow through the system can vary greatly from a low of 80,000 gallons a day in a dry period up to two million gallons per day with a heavy rain. A number of damaged pipes have been discovered, including a leak along Route 272 South, which has been repaired.  Significant work has been done in Connecticut to reduce the amount of nitrogen flowing into the Long Island Sound from wastewater treatment plants. The expectation is that the local pipe upgrade will reduce the nitrogen coming from Norfolk’s wastewater, which is discharged into the Blackberry River after treatment.

The 19 voters in attendance at the meeting approved a resolution to spend a total of $4,292,990 to fund the project. It is anticipated the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide a grant of $1,952,990 and a loan not to exceed $2,249,000. The $93,000 not covered by USDA funding will be paid for by the members of the Norfolk Sewer District. The USDA bonds will likely have a 40-year maturity and an interest rate of 2%. Currently, the work is funded with a bridge loan from Salisbury Bank. The outstanding balance as of May 12 is $1,234,428 with an interest rate of 3.9%. When the project is completed, the Salisbury Bank bridge loan will be repaid with the grant and loan from the USDA.  

Tax Collector JoAnn Gundlach reported that 98.5% of the sewer fees have been collected and she has placed liens on nine of the 11 accounts outstanding. Liens are placed on accounts with more than $25 outstanding. Of the 21 accounts in arrears from the prior year, two remain outstanding.

The voters approved the recommendation to fund 45% of the budget with a set fee-per- hookup of $423 and the remaining 55% based upon water meter readings for gallonage used from Oct. 1, 2019 to Sept. 30, 2020. There are 375 hookups on the system. The budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 is $441,384. Due to a carryover of funds from the current fiscal year, and a slight reduction in the budget, the amount that must be raised by taxes is $352,500. The per-unit fee of $423 is a reduction from the current year’s $552.57, and the usage charge will be reduced from the current $16.24 per thousand gallons to $11.79.

Sewer District Chairman Ron Zanobi described several capital purchases including: a new sludge pump; a new and smaller boiler; removal of the in-ground oil tank, to be replaced with a smaller tank inside the plant, and a generator. The estimated total for these purchases is $182,000 and will be covered by a contingency fund.