LAMBERTVILLE: Sewer linking fee hike gets OK

By John Tredrea, Special Writer
   LAMBERTVILLE: The Lambertville Municipal Utilities Authority (LMUA) voted June 18 to increase the fee for connecting into the city’s sewer system by $249. That brings the fee to $4,770.
   This brings the fee to only $15 more than it was in 2009, when it was $4,755. From that figure, it was reduced to $4,521 in 2010 and held at that figure in 2011.
   Only one resident paid the hook-up fee in 2011, said LMUA Chairman Eric Richards.
   The connection fee is for just that — connecting into the system. User rates for those who use the system have not been increased since he became MUA chairman over two years ago, Mr. Richards said.
   He said raising the connection fee is part of the authority’s effort to hold the line on rates paid by those using the system.
   It’s clear, then, that since the connection fee increase puts that fee to within $15 of what it was two years ago, and since very few people are paying that fee, the impact of the connection fee increase is minimal.
   THERE’S OTHER GOOD NEWS from the MUA.
   All indications are that the city, most particularly the southern part of the city, which is the closest part of the city to the sewage treatment plant, smells a lot better than it used to.
   Recent implementation of an odor remediation plan at the city’s wastewater treatment plant has drastically reduced the number of complaints the MUA has received from residents about bad smells from the sewage treatment plant.
   From November of last year to May of this year, the MUA received an average of 16 complaints per month about unpleasant sewage treatment odors, Mr. Richards said. It received just three complaints last month (June).
   Last November, the LMUA celebrated completion of a wastewater treatment plant construction project. This $7.4 million project took 21 months to complete and was the largest construction project since the plant was last upgraded in the 1980s.
   ”After that project was completed, the LMUA turned its full attention to finding a solution to continuing odor issues,” Mr. Richards said. The LMUA developed a plan to investigate specific contributing factors for the odor problem, develop remedies and obtain financing.
   In April 2011, the LMUA began the implementation of a $1 million biosolids/odor management plan.
   ”This project was recommended by our engineers and was described as the best opportunity to reduce odors,” Mr. Richards said.
   ”The biosolids project consists of installing a new odor control unit and making modifications to our biosolids processing system. This plan is a five-phase construction project, three of which are already completed — the fourth of which is currently under way. We anticipate that all five phases of this project will be operational in the first quarter of 2013.”
   Work in the odor remediation program includes installation of inserts in manholes to contain any fugitive odors, reinstallation of mats over various tanks to contain fugitive odors, installation a weather station to facilitate analysis of calls on odors and many other items, Mr. Richards said.