By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
NEWPORT, N.H. — A Special Town Meeting deliberative session was held in Newport on Tuesday, where Selectboard Chair James Burroughs moved to see if the town would vote to appropriate $5 million for the design, construction and upgrade of a wastewater treatment plant.
He explained that $4 million comes from issuance from bonds and notes. This would authorize the selectmen to issue and negotiate the bonds or notes. This also authorizes the board to apply for, and spend, money from federal and state government to use for the project. The remaining amount of $1 million comes from federal grants and does not lapse before the project is completed or by June 30, 2025.
A 60% majority vote is required and recommended by the board of selectmen and Budget Advisory Committee.
“It is important to note that there is no tax or sewer rate impact in this article,” he said, adding that there is 100% principal forgiveness.
Burroughs said this is important for the infrastructure phase of the project. Former Finance Director Paul Brown spoke about the project, saying that there are two things addressed here. The Department of Revenue required Newport to align with their language, he said. He referred to a spreadsheet, saying that in 2019 the town authorized a $4.5 million bond with 30% forgiveness.
At the last Town Meeting, $23.5 million was approved. Of that, $4 million was a donation from the Department of Environmental Services. This now needs to be authorized so money can be borrowed from the state to be used. This will only be borrowed for an estimated four months, Brown said.
Secondly, when the town went to bid in April, they were $5 million short on the engineer’s estimate for the project. They spoke with the state and offered another $2.5 million in funding to total $5 million.
“Essentially we’re taking $4 million from last year’s approval and putting it in this year’s approval,” Brown said. “We end up with a total appropriation of $5 million, which is the new money we need for this project.”
Brown said a question he is frequently asked is what happens if this doesn’t pass, and he said the project will need to be “dumbed down.”
The public had a chance to voice their concerns and ask officials questions that pertained to the project.
Resident Susan Wells wanted Brown to confirm what this would do to the tax rate, and Brown reiterated to her that there would be no impact. Brown was also able to confirm that principal forgiveness aspects are set in stone.
Brown said sometimes you’ve got to spend more on sneakers to make them last longer, but she wants to know the difference between what will be proposed versus the “old tried and true methods.”
“You’ve got to spend money to save money,” Wells said. “I hate spending money. I hate it. But I love saving money.”
Another resident voiced concerns about the already high rates he pays for sewer and water. He said in the past something went drastically wrong, and he wants to be reassured that it won’t happen again.
Officials have said that the town risks losing part or all of the grant funding. Also lost will be the low interest rate borrowing at 2% for local funds; favorable waivers on federal construction requirements, the current bid by the contractor; and a year of time before the federally required completion date of 2026.
Brown also said a delay to the spring will lead to losing a year of time with administrative work. They would also look at another year of inflation, which has hurt the town in the project.
Brown highly recommended the passage of the article.
“It’s really, very important that we pass it this year,” he said. “There’s no tax impact and there’s no impact on the current projections of the sewer rates. If this were to fail, I think sewer rate projections would be worse than they are currently.”
The town will be asked to vote on the article on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at the Town Hall/Opera House between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.
