Request for proposal
(October 18, 2024): Request for Proposals – Engineering Services for the Town of Pawlet
Due date:
October 18, 2024
The Rutland Regional Planning Commission (RRPC) seeks a qualified engineering firm to complete a Cost-Benefit Analysis of Sludge Storage Alternatives, Conceptual Plans for a Selected Alternative, and a Property Survey to advance improvements to the Pawlet Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF), located at 49 Railroad Avenue in Pawlet, Vermont. The Village of West Pawlet operates a 0.040 million gallons per day (MGD) rotating biological contactor (RBC) WWTF, discharging into the Indian River. Last upgraded in 2014, the current facility does not provide sludge storage, and sludge from the final clarifiers is drained to influent septic tanks. Due to diminishing demand for local sewer service in the Village of West Pawlet, the WWTF is operating at under 25% of its designed capacity. This decrease in demand, as well as rising operational expenses, and stricter environmental/health regulations, have led to an increase in user fees associated with running this facility. Under current operations, wastewater sludge needs to be trucked frequently to a regional treatment facility in Rutland, and daily monitoring is required from a contracted operator. Local property owners have responded to rising costs by disconnecting from the system, leading to a downward-spiral effect in which less income from connection fees has created more of a burden on remaining users. The Town of Pawlet has begun subsidizing some of the operational costs of running the facility, as well as working to enroll local residents in the Household Wastewater Payment Assistance program offered by the State of Vermont Economic Services. Several solutions have been proposed to reduce the cost of running this facility. The most promising have been adding a new sludge storage tank, storage container, or other modular sludge storage system on an adjacent town-owned lot (27 Railroad Avenue). The Rutland Regional Planning Commission seeks a qualified engineering firm to analyze the potential cost savings of each of these sludge storage options, develop designs for an improvement selected by the Town, and complete a property survey of the adjacent 27 Railroad Avenue parcel.
