FARMINGTON — Selectmen on April 23 approved the Wastewater/Sewer Department’s $1.24 million budget for 2024 and voted to use the same rates as last year.

The rate per quarter is $48 for a minimum of 500 cubic feet and $9.60 per 100 cubic feet thereafter.

“The overall budget increase is 2.02%,” Town Manager Erica LaCroix said. As was done for other departments, some capital reserve accounts were moved, she noted. That lowered the operating budget for non-personnel by three percent, she stated. “Most of the budget is largely status quo,” she added.

Pay rates for employees are about the only thing that changed, Director Stephen Millett said.

Chair Joshua Bell asked if any capital projects were planned.

“Just fixing the stuff that needs to be fixed,” Mavis Gensel, sewer clerk replied.

Millett said work done on clarifiers and stabilizers should last another 15-20 years. A staff member knows how to rebuild the different cylinders, has the kits and has rebuilt everything, he stated.

Selectman Dennis O’Neil noted expenditures last year were substantially less than budgeted. Was there something else that should have been addressed, he asked.

“Plant equipment is kind of a crap shoot, you are not really sure,” Gensel replied. “All it takes is a pump and you are talking $40,000. When you are looking at those moneys it is hard to say what is going to be fixed. This stuff is so expensive and then you are waiting to get it.”

Spare pumps that finally arrived were lost in the flood, when replacements will be delivered is unknown, she  stated. “If one of those pumps goes down on the Wilton Road we’re screwed,” she stressed.

O’Neil stated waste removal is $2,000 less than last year.

“For a period of time we had to ship it to Canada because it couldn’t be landfilled in the United States because of PFAS,” Millett said. “Now Casella has both their landfill in New Hampshire and the temporary one they use in Maine is back up and running. When they got those back up and running they dropped the amount per ton by $169.75. We are averaging about 16-17 tons per load right now every week.”

“We did the big rate increase last year,” Selectman Byron Staples said. “Are we looking at just flat lining that rate for this year?”

Yes, Millett replied.

Last year selectmen approved a 20.3% sewer rate increase, the first since 2018.

“We are starting to get people at school, people out in society again [after COVID-19] and using the businesses here,” Gensel said. “That’s good because we need that. We want that buffer to go back up.”

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