By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM -- A $10.7 million plan for major upgrades to the village’s aging and inefficient wastewater treatment infrastructure was presented by a consulting engineering company Thursday evening.

Mayor Steve Yurgartis said the plan could actually result in a lower sewer rate for village water users if the financing plan succeeds.

At a special meeting of the village Board of Trustees, the engineers hired by the village to evaluate the system and recommend upgrades, Barton and Loguidice of Syracuse, laid out the specifics of their plan, from replacement of some systems that go back to 1970 to energy efficiency improvements.

The engineers also presented a plan to fund the work with grants and loans.

“About two years ago I realized we had a growing problem, and our loans for the last upgrade would be paid off soon, so we went looking at what’s next,” said Mayor Yurgartis.

Over the next two years, the upgrade plan was developed for “the fundamental infrastructure which the public has taken for granted but we have to pay attention to, and we have been,” Yurgartis said.

“We assembled an excellent team to work with,” Yurgartis said. That includes B&L and Terry Tuttle, an engineer with the Development Authority of the North Country.

“She has been advising the village in the process, in particular the schedule for grant writing and funding applications.” She was an “independent advisor with an extra set of eyes to help evaluate the quality of the plan.”

It won’t come cheap, at a projected $10.7 million.

“We’re looking for about $2 million in grants and the rest in zero-percent loans,” the mayor said.

The funding plan includes a state Environmental Facilities Corporation Clean Water State Revolving Fund 30-year loan with hardship financing at zero percent interest; a Clean Water Infrastructure Improvement Grant of up to 25 percent of project costs; a USDA Rural Development Rural Utilities Service grant of $500,000; and $600,000 from a Community Development Block Grant.

If the funding plan is successful, “we predict a small decrease in the sewer rate,” Yurgartis said. Beyond that, there might be enough surplus to “consider establishing a capital reserve fund for future facility maintenance,” the presentation said.

The original facility goes back to 1970. Some elements, such as the grit removal, aeration and digester systems, are 45 years old. The last major upgrade was in 1997.

Among the elements in line for upgrades and energy efficiency improvements are screens and filters to trap more grit and the growing number of flushable wipes entering the system. Flushable wipes have been making news as causing problems for wastewater treatment plants around the country, and Potsdam's is no exception. Older systems cannot filter them out, and they can clog pumps.

Other elements of the system are energy inefficient and costly to operate compared with newer systems.

The report says the six pumping stations used by the system, maintained by the Department of Public Works, are all in good condition. The report suggests adding emergency generators and updated control panels with remote monitoring.

The original sanitary collection system -- the sewers -- go back to 1929, but is in fairly good shape, the report says due to proactive maintenance by the village DPW.

The plan attempts to make maximum use of existing infrastructure, such as tanks. But the buildings, some of which are 45 years old, can benefit from some work.

All the water pollution control facility's buildings were put up in 1970, and had new roofs put on in 1997. The roofs need replacement again, and energy efficiency upgrades, such as sealing air leaks, using LED lighting and updating heating and ventilation infrastructure are called for, according to the report.

“We’re going to improve the aeration process and we’re going to improve how we handle solids,” Yurgartis said.

“We now spend $170,000 a year in hauling the solids out to farms for land application,” Yugartis said. That sludge is about two percent actual solids, he said.

With upgraded system, “we’ll get 30 percent solids, it will be easier and cheaper to transport, and we’ll have more options rather than land application” for disposal, he said.

“We expect the infrastructure improvements to have a lifetime of 30 years, and will modestly increase the capacity, so we have room to grow

B&L’s plan said that, depending on the timing of grant applications and approvals, construction could occur in 2018-2019.