Fairhaven budget group takes up sewer plant operations again as town forecasts show gaps of $1.16 million or more

FAIRHAVEN A Fairhaven committee looking for savings returns Tuesday to the operation of the town's wastewater treatment plant. The Budget Working Group's Oct. 20 agenda lists "Wastewater Treatment Plant O/MM" as unfinished business. Its Oct. 6 agenda had called for a meeting with Board of Public Works Superintendent Vincent Furtado "to investigate feasibility of privatization of the Fairhaven Wastewater Treatment Plant operation and maintenance."

No vote on hiring a private operator is listed. The group advises; it does not set the budget.

The numbers behind it

Town Administrator Keith R. Hickey and Assistant Town Administrator and Finance Director Anne Carreiro sent the Select Board a four-year forecast in a memo dated Sept. 28. It assumes spending grows 3% a year, with $500,000 more each year for non-departmental costs such as retirement and health insurance.

If Acushnet keeps sending students to Fairhaven High School, bringing in about $2 million a year in tuition, the forecast shows a gap of $1,158,958 in fiscal 2028, growing to $2,153,646 by fiscal 2031. A second scenario assumes the tuition agreement ends after fiscal 2028, with no new Acushnet freshmen from fiscal 2029 on. The memo says tuition would then fall by about $500,000 a year, though the forecast table starts that cut in fiscal 2028. Under that scenario the gap is $1,658,958 in fiscal 2028 and $4,176,034 by fiscal 2031.

The town's sewer page says the Water Pollution Control Facility on Arsene Street was built in 1969, is designed for 5 million gallons a day and takes in about 2.7 million gallons on an average day, 16% of it from Mattapoisett. Its federal and state discharge permit requires nitrogen removal upgrades, which the town has engaged Tighe & Bond to complete by 2027, the page says.

How we got here

The Select Board appointed the group to review town and school cost drivers and look for savings through regionalization, shared services, "outsourcing where appropriate" and new revenue, its town web page says. Members elected Kenneth Blanchard chair on Sept. 8, because the Select Board had not named one, the minutes say.

The minutes of the group's Sept. 22 meeting record a discussion of how the "budgetary crisis involving Fairhaven is shared by many regional communities," and say several of the ideas offered involved regionalizing services. Blanchard reminded members that writing the fiscal 2028 budget belongs to the town administrator, the Select Board and the Finance Committee, the minutes say.

Public Works meets Monday

The Board of Public Works meets Monday, Oct. 19. Its agenda lists a wastewater feasibility study, which it does not describe, a trash request for proposals and payment No. 34 of $687,286.14 to Methuen Construction for treatment plant upgrades. A state Department of Environmental Protection payment request for $687,286 is listed next to it.

Also on Tuesday

Town Planner Dawn Quirk, Fairhaven Economic Development Committee chair Cathy Melanson and New Bedford Economic Development Council Executive Director Derek Santos are invited to talk about economic development and new growth. The forecast assumes $350,000 a year in new growth.

How to take part

The Budget Working Group meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Board of Public Works conference room, 5 Arsene St., and on Zoom (meeting ID 850 2932 3382, passcode 439656). Public comment is on the agenda, limited to two minutes a speaker, and the meeting is taped by Fairhaven Cable Access. The Board of Public Works meets there Monday at 6 p.m., also on Zoom (meeting ID 842 7012 0662, passcode 323124); its office is at 508-979-4030. The town administrator's office is at 508-979-4023.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.