Lewes BPW approves wastewater pact
The Lewes Board of Public Works approved an agreement with Sussex County Dec. 10, which will eventually send all of its wastewater to the county’s Wolfe Neck facility to be discharged into the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal.
BPW officials said the project is critical because of the vulnerability of its American Legion Road plant to rising sea levels. The 30-year agreement does not give a start or completion date for the project.
Hans Medlarz, a consulting engineer for the county, said a two-year impact study on the canal, technology evaluation and more have to be done before design and permitting can begin.
The board began discussing options for hardening its wastewater treatment plant on American Legion Road in 2022. BPW President Tom Panetta said a study showed the plant would be at a real risk to be inundated by 2050.
The board’s first choice for resiliency was constructed wetlands at the Wolfe Neck facility. But a phase one archeological study in 2023 produced findings that prevented building there.
The BPW vote on the agreement was 4-1. Commissioner Bob Heffernan cast the sole vote against.
The agreement caps BPW’s portion of the cost at $40 million.
“It’s not the lowest cost, but it’s the lowest-cost, low-risk option,” said BPW director Barbara Curtis, who was praised for her role in negotiations with the county.
Heffernan said he is not sure the agreement is the right thing to do.
“My question all along has been, ‘Is there a reduction in the $40 million?’ Earlier estimates were half of that. We haven’t been able to accomplish that,” he said. “There’s no real completion date, and time is of the essence.”
Once the project is finished, the wastewater treatment plant on American Legion Road will be dismantled and the land restored.
“We would no longer be in the wastewater treatment business,” Panetta said.
Panetta said he favors keeping the land as open space.
The agreement transfers operation of BPW pump stations at Gills Neck Road and Savannah Road, and one near the plant on American Legion Road, to the county. BPW will continue to set rates and be the sole point of contact for its ratepayers.
The board unanimously approved a separate agreement to increase the maximum amount of wastewater Lewes receives from Sussex County to 450,000 average gallons per day on an annual basis.
The rate the county pays the BPW will increase from $3.02 per thousand gallons to $5.31 per thousand gallons.
County Council is expected to consider the agreements at their January meeting.
Bill Shull has been covering Lewes for the Cape Gazette since 2023. He comes to the world of print journalism after 40 years in TV news. Bill has worked in his hometown of Philadelphia, as well as Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He came to Lewes in 2014 to help launch WRDE-TV. Bill served as WRDE’s news director for more than eight years, working in Lewes and Milton. He is a 1986 graduate of Penn State University. Bill is an avid aviation and wildlife photographer, and a big Penn State football, Eagles, Phillies and PGA Tour golf fan. Bill, his wife Jill and their rescue cat, Lucky, live in Rehoboth Beach.
