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$1.6M grant for wastewater plant project
By Jamie Larson
The city of Hudson has been awarded a $1.6 million grant for the construction of its new Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The grant was awarded because of the increased energy efficiency of the facility, on which construction is slated to begin early next year.
City officials say the Flexible Technical grant (Flex Tech) from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is a welcome
Contractor’s bids on the WWTP are expected to come in between $13 million and $14 million.
News of the project’s price increase came after the city was awarded $4.4 million in federal stimulus dollars. Hudson Mayor Richard Scalera said that had the city known of the full cost when it wrote its stimulus proposal it would have received a greater amount of funding.
Scalera and Department of Public Works Superintendent Robert Perry said that when the discrepancy was found, the DEC’s financial lending body, the Environmental Facilities Corporation, worked to help Hudson find additional funding to cover the unanticipated expense.
The EFC is also in control of the city’s zero interest loan, which will pay for the unfunded remainder of the WWTP build.
Projects only became eligible for the Flex Tech grant if they had been funded with the first round of stimulus dollars. Perry said that the city had conservatively hoped to get at least $550,000 from NYSERDA.
Scalera and Perry credit the EFC for recognizing the city’s need for additional funding and working at the state level to nearly tripling that amount.
According to a Flex Tech study of the new WWTP plans, done by NYSERDA’s chosen engineering firm, O’Brian and Gere, the new plant will be substantially more efficient then the current one, potentially saving the city as much as $60,000 a year in that area.
Scalera said the efficiency technology today is astonishingly different then that in the the existing plant, which he joked is held together with “Band-Aids and glue.”
Scalera was careful however to say that while the WWTP’s efficiency will save some money, he didn’t want to give the wrong impression that the new plant will be cheaper for taxpayers. According the city budget released last week, sewer bills in Hudson will rise $48 to $51 a yearly quarter.
“Our water and sewer infrastructure was identified at one time to be the most outdated and in need of replacement in the state,” Scalera said when he presented the budget to the Common Council Nov. 10, “and we are now paying for it.”
To reach reporter Jamie Larson call 518-828-1616, ext. 2269, or e-mail jlarson@registerstar.com.
City officials say the Flexible Technical grant (Flex Tech) from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is a welcome
Contractor’s bids on the WWTP are expected to come in between $13 million and $14 million.
News of the project’s price increase came after the city was awarded $4.4 million in federal stimulus dollars. Hudson Mayor Richard Scalera said that had the city known of the full cost when it wrote its stimulus proposal it would have received a greater amount of funding.
Scalera and Department of Public Works Superintendent Robert Perry said that when the discrepancy was found, the DEC’s financial lending body, the Environmental Facilities Corporation, worked to help Hudson find additional funding to cover the unanticipated expense.
The EFC is also in control of the city’s zero interest loan, which will pay for the unfunded remainder of the WWTP build.
Projects only became eligible for the Flex Tech grant if they had been funded with the first round of stimulus dollars. Perry said that the city had conservatively hoped to get at least $550,000 from NYSERDA.
Scalera and Perry credit the EFC for recognizing the city’s need for additional funding and working at the state level to nearly tripling that amount.
According to a Flex Tech study of the new WWTP plans, done by NYSERDA’s chosen engineering firm, O’Brian and Gere, the new plant will be substantially more efficient then the current one, potentially saving the city as much as $60,000 a year in that area.
Scalera said the efficiency technology today is astonishingly different then that in the the existing plant, which he joked is held together with “Band-Aids and glue.”
Scalera was careful however to say that while the WWTP’s efficiency will save some money, he didn’t want to give the wrong impression that the new plant will be cheaper for taxpayers. According the city budget released last week, sewer bills in Hudson will rise $48 to $51 a yearly quarter.
“Our water and sewer infrastructure was identified at one time to be the most outdated and in need of replacement in the state,” Scalera said when he presented the budget to the Common Council Nov. 10, “and we are now paying for it.”
To reach reporter Jamie Larson call 518-828-1616, ext. 2269, or e-mail jlarson@registerstar.com.
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