The Chicopee City Council has approved a request by Mayor Richard Kos for an appropriation of $1.53 million for the completion of the upcoming Baystate Road and Clarendon Avenue sewer separation project. The appropriation will be taken from available funds in sewer accounts, which includes $1,000,000 from the sewer surplus account and utilizing a grant from the State of $530,000.
The total project cost will be approximately $5.7 million and will benefit nearly 100 homes in the areas of Baystate Road, Wellington Avenue, and Windsor Street in Aldenville and Clarendon Avenue in Willimansett. By utilizing $179,900 in Chapter 90 funds, a Water Department share of $83,000, and appropriating $1.53 million from available funds in sewer accounts, the City will be able to bond at a much lower amount, borrowing $2.5 million from the State Revolving Fund. Financing for this loan is not expected to exceed $155,000 per year, and the current CSO schedule annually budgets for $225,000 in loan origination fees meaning residents will not see an increase in sewer fees because of this project.
Of the remaining City streets, the DPW has assessed these areas as having some of the worst sewers in the City. This project will separate sewers, some of which are in a great state of decay. There will also be improvements to water lines and road surface drainage with the hopes of eliminating sewer backups, which has been a constant problem in these areas.
Mayor Kos expressed the importance of this project. “This is one of the first major benefits of our integrated management plan approval that we received from both the EPA, as well as the MA DEP, allowing us to postpone other work in the City which would have been more costly and would not have had the immediate benefit to our residents that this project will have.”
“I would like to thank the City Council as well as the officials at both the State and Federal level for their support of our process which is really just beginning,” said Mayor Kos. “The 6 to 7 year change that we received is only a portion of the 40 to 50 year amendment that we requested and that we continue to work to achieve.”
It is anticipated with the approval of this order that the contract to Ludlow Construction will be awarded and work will commence this summer. The project is anticipated to last approximately two years.
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