Montague wastewater treatment supt. resigns
- Wastewater Treatment Superintendent Bob McDonald is leaving his position this week, having informed the Selectboard of his resignation on Aug. 19. Staff File Photo
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Published: 9/11/2019 6:09:20 PM
MONTAGUE — Wastewater Treatment Superintendent Bob McDonald is
leaving his position this week, having informed the Selectboard of his
resignation on Aug. 19. His last day is Thursday.
In McDonald’s three years with Montague, his department weathered the loss of two major revenue sources: the Southworth paper mill, which closed in 2017; and the “Montague process,” an experimental sludge disposal program that, at its height in 2016, brought in $483,054 in revenue from other towns and reduced Montague’s own sludge disposal costs to $19,010.
The Montague process ran from 2010 to 2016. It worked by conditioning bacteria to consume sludge, and was apparently very effective: by 2016 there were 26 wastewater treatment plants in Franklin County contracting Montague to handle their sludge disposal.
“Montague was the regional solution for about four years,” said Franklin County Solid Waste Management District Executive Director Jan Ameen.
But because the Montague process involved large amounts of solid waste, inclement weather posed a risk of overflow into the Connecticut River. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) took notice, and in 2016 required the town to either end the process or invest in research to define exactly how it worked.
When the town tried to replicate the model in 2017, the DEP deemed it too unstable and ordered the town to end it — cutting the facility’s revenue source, and increasing the cost of disposing the town’s own sludge to about $400,000.
Meanwhile, in August 2017 the Southworth paper mill closed and left an unpaid sewer bill of $250,000. A prospective sale of the building to a Maine company called SBD Greentech was in the
works the following winter, but fell through in February 2018 — leaving the wastewater treatment plant with one less major customer, which still has not yet been replaced.
Moreover, the wastewater treatment plant’s industrial revenue had been declining for years, McDonald later explained. From 2012 to 2018, industrial revenue went from about $644,000 a year to about $206,000, he said.
All that led to a 38 percent increase in town sewer rates for the 2019 fiscal year, approved at the May 2018 Annual Town Meeting.
The DEP subsequently rejected certain cost-cutting measures in the water treatment facility’s budget, forcing the sewer rate even higher. When the revised budget was approved at an October 2018 Special Town Meeting, sewer rates ended up 71 percent higher than the previous year.
The Montague process still has not been replaced as a revenue source, but the wastewater treatment plant’s business model has mostly stabilized, and the plant now operates like any other in the state, McDonald said. This year’s sewer rate increase was about 1 percent.
“We feel that we’ve got things under control,” he said.
The work of finding a new source of revenue to replace the Montague process will likely be continued by the next wastewater treatment superintendent, McDonald said. Town officials had hoped that installing solar panels on the facility would reduce costs, but are now unsure of whether state funding will be available for the project, and are investigating alternatives.
When McDonald announced his resignation to the Selectboard on Aug. 19, board members thanked him for his work.
“I know that it’s a very difficult job,” Selectoard Chair Rich Kuklewicz said. “You’re at the end of the pipe, and sometimes it all ends up there.”
McDonald said he is moving to a similar job in the town of Templeton, which is closer to where he lives.
Town Administrator Steve Ellis said the town would like to replace McDonald as quickly as possible, but that the hiring process will by nature not be quick. He said he will soon present the Selectboard with a plan to form a hiring committee, and the position will be discussed further during a meeting Monday.
In McDonald’s three years with Montague, his department weathered the loss of two major revenue sources: the Southworth paper mill, which closed in 2017; and the “Montague process,” an experimental sludge disposal program that, at its height in 2016, brought in $483,054 in revenue from other towns and reduced Montague’s own sludge disposal costs to $19,010.
The Montague process ran from 2010 to 2016. It worked by conditioning bacteria to consume sludge, and was apparently very effective: by 2016 there were 26 wastewater treatment plants in Franklin County contracting Montague to handle their sludge disposal.
“Montague was the regional solution for about four years,” said Franklin County Solid Waste Management District Executive Director Jan Ameen.
But because the Montague process involved large amounts of solid waste, inclement weather posed a risk of overflow into the Connecticut River. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) took notice, and in 2016 required the town to either end the process or invest in research to define exactly how it worked.
When the town tried to replicate the model in 2017, the DEP deemed it too unstable and ordered the town to end it — cutting the facility’s revenue source, and increasing the cost of disposing the town’s own sludge to about $400,000.
Meanwhile, in August 2017 the Southworth paper mill closed and left an unpaid sewer bill of $250,000. A prospective sale of the building to a Maine company called SBD Greentech was in the
works the following winter, but fell through in February 2018 — leaving the wastewater treatment plant with one less major customer, which still has not yet been replaced.
Moreover, the wastewater treatment plant’s industrial revenue had been declining for years, McDonald later explained. From 2012 to 2018, industrial revenue went from about $644,000 a year to about $206,000, he said.
All that led to a 38 percent increase in town sewer rates for the 2019 fiscal year, approved at the May 2018 Annual Town Meeting.
The DEP subsequently rejected certain cost-cutting measures in the water treatment facility’s budget, forcing the sewer rate even higher. When the revised budget was approved at an October 2018 Special Town Meeting, sewer rates ended up 71 percent higher than the previous year.
The Montague process still has not been replaced as a revenue source, but the wastewater treatment plant’s business model has mostly stabilized, and the plant now operates like any other in the state, McDonald said. This year’s sewer rate increase was about 1 percent.
“We feel that we’ve got things under control,” he said.
The work of finding a new source of revenue to replace the Montague process will likely be continued by the next wastewater treatment superintendent, McDonald said. Town officials had hoped that installing solar panels on the facility would reduce costs, but are now unsure of whether state funding will be available for the project, and are investigating alternatives.
When McDonald announced his resignation to the Selectboard on Aug. 19, board members thanked him for his work.
“I know that it’s a very difficult job,” Selectoard Chair Rich Kuklewicz said. “You’re at the end of the pipe, and sometimes it all ends up there.”
McDonald said he is moving to a similar job in the town of Templeton, which is closer to where he lives.
Town Administrator Steve Ellis said the town would like to replace McDonald as quickly as possible, but that the hiring process will by nature not be quick. He said he will soon present the Selectboard with a plan to form a hiring committee, and the position will be discussed further during a meeting Monday.
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