NAHANT — The town will need more funding to complete its latest sewer rehabilitation project.
The Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee met on Wednesday night to discuss recent bids for the project, which will overhaul the town’s problematic sewer system. During the meeting, it became clear that the town will need to secure more funding if it wants to see the project cross the finish line.
The lowest bid that came in for the project was for $8.8 million. Town Meeting authorized the town to use $4.6 million for the project in September of 2020; an additional $4 million was authorized in the spring of 2018, but the remaining balance of those funds is $2.4 million.
This leaves the town with a budget of $7 million for the project, which is nearly $2 million less than the lowest bid for construction. The most expensive bid came in at nearly $13 million.
Back in 2018, Nahant experienced a sewer break, which cost the town more than $1 million, according to Town Administrator Antonio Barletta. In response to that failure, the town created a multi-year plan to fix many aspects of its sewer system.
“When I came in the fall of 2018, I kind of looked at that plan and felt like we were focused on the wrong things,” said Barletta. “We should’ve been prioritizing, I felt, the force main first, given it’s the most critical need.”
Nahant has had some tough luck when it comes to the sewer system. Two days after funding was approved at Town Meeting in September of 2020, the town’s sewer main broke. With the town’s multiple system failures, it is now under a time crunch to get the work completed.
“Due to our multiple failures, we are under a mandate from DEP (Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection) to essentially get this thing done to a prescribed schedule,” said Board of Selectmen Chairman Josh Antrim.
According to Barletta, the town needs to complete the project by the end of the calendar year, which he said is feasible. If the town doesn’t complete the project by this deadline, the DEP could impose fines on the town, which could continue to escalate as time progresses.
In terms of getting more funding, one suggestion under discussion involves securing grants from either the state or federal level. Unfortunately, Barletta said, there wouldn’t be a quick-enough turnaround to complete the project in time.
With this being a financial issue, the town would have to hold a Town Meeting to authorize the borrowing of more money to secure a construction company for the project. Some board and committee members were worried about the cost of holding another Town Meeting, particularly if the event had to be held inside. Barletta hopes to mitigate the cost by having the meeting indoors at Town Hall.
If the meeting was to be held indoors, some concerns about safety were expressed on Wednesday. Even though Gov. Charlie Baker has lifted the COVID-19 emergency order, some were worried about having a large number of people packed into Town Hall.
The two committees agreed that they will try to gain authorization for additional funding, which will require a special Town Meeting in order to award the project as quickly as possible. The next step for the town is setting a date for the special meeting.
