Lewes BPW, county have draft agreement on treatment plant
After seven public workshops and three years of discussions, the Lewes Board of Public Works has completed a draft agreement with Sussex County on a new wastewater treatment plant.
The details were spelled out at a public workshop Oct. 28, which county officials also attended.
Per the agreement, BPW wastewater flow will be pumped to Sussex County’s Wolfe Neck facility, which will be upgraded. Two BPW pumping stations will be reconfigured to pump to Wolfe Neck, then operated and maintained by Sussex County. The Wolfe Neck facility will be upgraded for tertiary wastewater treatment. The treated effluent will be polished through constructed wetlands and discharged into the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal.
BPW President Tom Panetta said the effluent will be cleaner because the wetlands, tertiary enhancement, is over and above what is required.
The BPW needed to find a new plant option because its current facility on American Legion Road is vulnerable to rising sea levels. Daily high-tide flooding is expected at the site by 2070, according to the BPW presentation. If the project with the county moves forward, BPW’s current plant will be decommissioned.
Sussex County will be responsible for removing all above- and below-ground structures and the land restored to Greenfield conditions. That is estimated to be completed in 2034.
The total capital cost of the project is estimated to be $200 million. BPW’s portion is capped at $40 million. It will be financed with a 20- to 30-year bond.
BPW ratepayers will see a phased-in increase in monthly bills.
BPW Finance Manager Kim Bellere projects the average residential customer’s monthly bill will go from $88.10 in 2026 to a peak of $126.26 in 2033-34, before dropping.
Panetta said they did not include the impact to commercial and industrial customers because of the complexity of how those rates are set.
BPW will remain the sole point of contact for customers, will be solely responsible for setting customer rates.
“To the customer, nothing is changing,” Panetta said. “Just like we deal with our current contract operator, the county will essentially be a contract operator down the line. But everything from the interface remains with us.”
Panetta said there is no timeline for the project, but it is estimated to take seven years from the time it is approved by the board and the county.
Hans Medlarz, a consulting engineer for the county, said the timeline for construction of the improvements at the Wolfe Neck facility will be driven by three factors: a canal study, technology selection and an archaeological study of the areas impacted by the construction.
BPW rejected other options, including building a new plant from scratch, which would have cost as much as $186 million.
In the summer of 2023, the results of a phase one archaeological study by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control ruled out discharge to constructed wetlands and fixed-head forest irrigation.
This past February, Rehoboth Beach rejected a partnership with Lewes that proposed using the city’s outfall.
Panetta said the BPW and the county will continue to hold quarterly meetings.
He said the plant will continue to be on the agenda for BPW’s monthly meetings. The next meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 10, at city hall.
The full workshop presentation can be found at lewesbpwde.gov.
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.
