AMHERST — Amherst is moving forward with a $650,000 study on the wastewater treatment plant that will give direction for future improvements to the facility that opened in 1979.
The appropriation, approved unanimously by the Town Council at its Sept. 15 meeting, came after councilors raised concerns about what originally had been a $750,000 request, asking a series of questions to Department of Public Works personnel about the expense, which will eventually be covered through user fees.
A memo from DPW Superintendent Guiflord Mooring and Town Manager Paul Bockelman explains that the study will develop a multi-year master plan and budget for addressing the needs of the wastewater and sewer system.
“The goal is to ensure the long-term sustainability, efficiency and resilience of the
town’s system,” they wrote.
Mooring explained to councilors that CDM Smith, Inc. of East Hartford, Connecticut, will be hired to do the work, having an understanding of the plant from being inside it periodically over the last 18 months, including for a pH study.
CDM Smith does most of the sewer-related work for the town, he said, and the state’s public procurement laws exempt design services for public works. Mooring said the assessment and feasibility will be similar to what was done before a new elementary school could be built.
“It’s going to look at the plant, it going to look at and develop a capital improvement plan and a management plan,” Mooring said.
The plant was originally designed to handle up to 7 million gallons of wastewater per day, with a typical day seeing the treatment of 3.5 million to 4 million gallons of wastewater, with surges above that during the academic year when the University of Massachusetts, Amherst College and Hampshire College are in session and Amherst’s population increases.
The study will help with doing an analysis on sewer rates, as well.
Some councilors noted the challenge of understanding the expense and whether other communities were paying similar costs, and whether they were being responsive to taxpayers. Not going out to bid for the services was a specific concern as it was impossible to compare the price.
At Large Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke said that the town was doing all work “sole-sourcing” over the decades.
“It seems like a best practice would be every five or six years you send everything out to bid again, to make sure you’re getting competitive prices,” Hanneke said.
Bockelman said the town’s habit has been to use the relationships established over the years with certain public works specialities.
“You’re never going to bid design services,” Mooring said, noting that he would ask for a request for qualifications and would not see the prices up front. “The purpose of the law is to choose the best designer.”
Mooring expressed frustration that Amherst officials nervous about the project appear to be averse to spending money, and he reflected on the poor condition of the DPW headquarters “as I sit in my building that leaks on us all the time”
District 3 Councilor George Ryan said he is not casting aspersions, but is responding to constituents, who have questions about the high cost for the work.