Exeter voters to decide on $3.5M bond for sewer project

EXETER — Select Board Chairman Niko Papakonstantis made one last plea Tuesday night to garner voter support for a $3.5 million bond to complete the Squamscott River sewer project.

“This is a big request, this is a lot of money,” said Papakonstantis. “But if this doesn't pass, we still have to do the project, we still have to find the money… the longer we wait, the more this is going to cost.”

The bond will go before voters at the Special Town Meeting on Aug. 15, with voting from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Talbot Gymnasium. The bond requires three-fifths approval. The loan would be paid off over 10 years with a 2% interest rate, and there will be no tax impact as it will be paid via sewer fees.

The funds will be used to finish the $7.7 million project to install two 12inch siphons, replacing 8inch pipes, from Jady Hill to the main pump station. The sewer serves more than 35% of the town.

On Tuesday, voters aired support for the project during the town's deliberative session, held prior to the upcoming Special Town Meeting.

However, some residents expressed they are not happy about how the costs for the project have skyrocketed. It was initially projected to cost $2.8 million, but now is $7.7 million.

“I wanna know initially who was responsible for the $2.8 million figure that is now $7.7 million?” said Exeter resident Jeff Bouvier. “Who is responsible for the first estimate? And why are we, the taxpayers, now responsible for picking up the difference. … I've been in this town for 25 years.

How many times has the sewer rates gone up for something? Quite a few times.”

Paul Vlaisch, the town engineer and interim public works director, explained the jump in cost was due to unforeseen circumstances.

Vlasich said initially the project was just to add capacity with an additional barrel. However, crews discovered the existing pipes had holes and needed to be replaced.

“There was some of the escalation right there,” he said.

Vlasich said crews then hit ledge, and as a result the project was redesigned to replace the existing 8-inch pipes with 12-inch ones.

Resident Doug Flockhart said although he is “extremely unhappy” about the additional costs, he supports the warrant article.

“It has to be done,” said Flockhart. “I don't care how we got there, we're here, and it has to be dealt with, and if we don't deal with it, EPA is going to come in and tell us how to do it, and it'll cost more when they do.”

Anthony Zwaan agreed, saying the bond is necessary to complete the second pipe and to have a functional sewer system.

“We gotta have the second pipe, we just have to,” said Zwaan. “The pipes that we're replacing were put in the 1960s, when there were no rules in place to do this … now we have a lot of rules.”

Town Finance Director Corey Stevens said the $3.5 million would come from a loan through the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services at zero tax impact. He said the borrowing will be repaid through sewer ratepayers, but noted that residents on the town sewer will not see an immediate increase on their bills.

"We change our rates because it's been a few years, and we need to look at them again, not just because one project has come along … you kind of build your rates for a longer period than just from project to project," Stevens said.

Resident Sally Ward asked if the $3.5 million will complete the project.

“It would be good to know that this is it,” said Ward. “If we approve this $3.5 million that we're not going to come back in six months saying, ‘Oops, we need another million.'”

Town Manager Russ Dean told voters the additional $3.5 million will complete the project. He said the town has entered into a lump sum agreement with the contractor, which means payment will only be made once the project is completed.

“We are confident we will be done at $7.7 million,” Dean said.

If approved, the $3.5 million would be combined with the current $4.2 million already earmarked for the $7.7 million project. The $4.2 million includes $1.6 million approved by voters in 2020, $1.15 million in Sewer Fund Reserves, $670,000 in local American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, $600,000 in federal congressional direct spending funds, and $180,000 in state ARPA funds.

If voters approve the additional funding, the second pipe will be installed in the fall and have a completion date of early next year.

Papakonstantis previously said staff involved in the project believe the larger pipes will offer enough capacity to meet existing demand and future development. He said that would allow the town to accomplish the mission it set out in 2020 to increase sewer capacity for future town growth.