Sewage Capacity: A Key Piece

In The Fairfield Hills Bargaining

By Andrew Gorosko

When the town starts talking to the state about a possible town purchase of the state’s 185-acre Fairfield Hills core campus, the town’s acquisition of public utilities for the campus is expected to be a key aspect of the negotiations.

Fuss and O’Neill, Inc., of Manchester, the town’s consulting engineer, has been studying how much sewage treatment capacity the town should acquire from the state at the joint town-state sewage treatment plant to handle the wastewater disposal for the Fairfield Hills core campus, said First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal. That research is based on the potential uses to which a town-owned core campus would be put, he said.

The state assumed two-thirds of the construction costs for the sewage plant, which has a treatment capacity of just under one million gallons per day, so the state controls two-thirds of the sewage treatment capacity, or about 660,000 gallons, for its use. The Commerce Road treatment plant opened in 1997.

Mr Rosenthal said it is unclear how much of its unused sewage treatment capacity the state wants to reserve for some future use. Besides handling the sewage flow from the town’s sewer district, the sewage treatment plant handles the wastewater from two state facilities – Fairfield Hills and Garner Correctional Institution.

Mr Rosenthal estimates the state is now using about one-third of its daily capacity, or about 220,000 gallons, at the treatment plant. He said it is unclear how much of the remaining state capacity the Department of Correction (DOC) wants to reserve for its future use.

The first selectman stressed he hopes the DOC does not expand Garner, or create a second prison on its land near Garner, but he added the DOC may want to reserve some of the state’s remaining treatment capacity for its future use.

Mr Rosenthal said the town is currently using about three-quarters of its 330,000-gallon daily capacity at the treatment plant, or about 250,000 gallons.

Negotiations between the state and town on how much treatment capacity the state would sell the town in a Fairfield Hills purchase will be an important aspect of the sale talks, the first selectman said.

Richard Nuclo, director of assets management for the state Office of Policy and Management (OPM), declined to specifically comment on a state sale of sewage treatment capacity to the town as part of a town purchase of Fairfield Hills. “Certainly, some capacity would go along with the sale… Certainly, it’s in the mix,” he said. Mr Nuclo declined to comment on how much sewage capacity the DOC would want to reserve at the treatment plant.

Mr Nuclo said he believes the state is currently using somewhat more than one-third of its sewage treatment capacity at the treatment plant.

Water Supply

The town’s acquisition of  a public water supply for Fairfield Hills also will be an aspect of the sale negotiations, Mr Nuclo said.

Michael Osborne is president of the Potatuck Club, a group that owns the two high-capacity wells which supply Fairfield Hills and Garner with water. Mr Osborne said there has been a long-running conflict between the club and the state over the club’s provision of water to the state.

The Potatuck Club’s provision of a public water supply will figure into the town talks with the state over a town purchase of Fairfield Hills, Mr Osborne said.

“There’s no question they [town] need water. There’s no question that Potatuck is willing to take a look at the situation,” he said.

Depending upon the complexity of the talks, it may take one to two years for the town and state to negotiate a state sale of Fairfield Hills, Mr Nuclo said.