AMHERST — A project to replace an aging water treatment plant in Pelham, which has been closed since being struck by lightning earlier this year, will go forward.
The Town Council voted unanimously Monday to spend $692,000 to cover the design and permitting needed to begin what is estimated to be an $11 million project.
The money will be borrowed and will be paid back from the water enterprise fund, not general taxes.
At-Large Councilor Andy Steinberg, who chairs the Finance Committee, said committee recommended the spending after determining the watershed area in Pelham is a valuable resource for Amherst and that the two reservoirs the plant services, Hills and Hawley, can’t be used without the water plant being brought online again.
Even though the town has sufficient capacity in its water system without the Pelham reservoirs, Amherst could lose permission from the state Department of Environmental Protection to use that resource. Steinberg said that would jeopardize the security of Amherst’s water supply.
The plant was built in 1981, but has had no upgrades since.
Along with a new building for the treatment plant, which will have to go through permitting by the town of Pelham, the project would replace Roberts filters that treat the water with dissolved air floatation, or DAF, technology.
The town’s net-zero bylaw, which mandates all buildings produce as much energy as they use, covers the plant but exempts so-called process energy, which is the equipment inside that treats the water.
Even so, Department of Public Works officials have told the Town Council that they will attempt to have as much renewable energy as possible placed at the building and its site when the new plant is built.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
