By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG – Ogdensburg City Council agreed to enter into a contract with DANC to help manage operations at the wastewater treatment plant, in a 6-1 vote Monday.

Deputy Mayor Michael Morley, who suggested the city should shop around for similar service providers to ensure the price tag was fair, opposed the measure.

The five-year contract will cost roughly $125,000 in the first year, gradually scaling up to about $140,000 by the final year..

The city has been considering the arrangement since December, but moved slowly and worked with employees at the WWTP to ensure the transition would be not cause problems with the city employees at the plant.

Last month, councilors Jennifer Stevenson and Timothy Davis toured wastewater plants in Carthage and Clayton that have similar agreements with DANC. Also taking part in the tour were City Manager Sarah Purdy, DPW Director Scott Thornhill and employees at the city’s WWTP and DPW.

Under the proposed plan, DANC would provide a licensed, degree-holding employee to oversee operations at the wastewater treatment facility. This operator, would coincidently be a 4a operator, but would not be the operator of record.

The operator of record is Tim Adams, who though retired, has agreed to stay on until a replacement is found. Thornhill the operator of record will not be replaced by DANC, as it is mandatory that the operator of record is a city employee.

According to the plan, city would use the money set aside for two of the unfilled positions to pay for the DANC contract, which would give the city a second 4a operator who would oversee operations and help implement needed upgrades at the plant.

The city would maintain the five positions that it has and may fill a remaining vacant position that is in the budget.

Supporters of the DANC agreement say it would streamline communication between the city and DANC and open up an opportunity to seek grants and plan for future expenses that could offset costs for the city down the road.

This comes as the city is faced with a mandatory $5.3 million upgrade at the facility and an additional $5.2 million in long-term upgrades.

City Manager Sarah Purdy said DANC could likely help the city find financing for those long-term improvements.

According to city council meeting minutes from January, the projected cost savings associated with contracting with DANC for professional services and management support at the Wastewater Treatment Plant was estimated at $84,000 in 2016 alone. However, the accuracy of that estimate was called into question briefly Monday.

Employees at the WWTP had expressed concerns regarding potential job impacts, but Thornhill said those concerns seem to have been alleviated based on his conversations with staff.

Ogdensburg’s wastewater facility has the capacity to process 6.5 million gallons of water per day and currently only processes about 3.2 million gallons. The facility saw major reductions in processing when the cheese plant closed several years back.

The contract, while approved by council will have to be signed by Purdy and DANC, before it becomes effective.