Danbury Voters to Decide $102 Million Wastewater Plant Upgrades

DANBURY — Residents will decide at the polls whether the city can complete federal- and state-mandated upgrades to its regional wastewater treatment on time or whether it must pay penalties levied by state environmental authorities, the News Times is reporting.

The decision to place the referendum on the November ballot was made by the City Council Wednesday night.

The referendum follows a decade of battles with state officials and environmental groups, who are mandating the city modify its sewage treatment to remove 98 percent of phosphorous from the water leaving the plant. The current estimated cost for the modifications is $102 million, bu the project has yet to go out to bid. Solicitation of those bids is pending a design, which now is pending the result of the referendum. The state will help pay portions of the bill, but only if cannot happen until if the project is bid out by next year.

Ultimately, the cost will be borne by just the city's 9,700 sewer customers, but all residents will have the opportunity to vote.

City sewer rates increased 2.95 percent this year and are likely to continue increasing by 3 to 5 percent each of the next several years, the News Times quoted Finance Director David St. Hilaire.

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