Sussex County finalizes wastewater pact with Lewes BPW
An agreement for Sussex County to process all wastewater from Lewes was approved Jan. 6 by county council. The plan was prompted by predictions that sea rise will inundate the Lewes plant by 2050.
Council voted unanimously on the 30-year agreement with the Lewes Board of Public Works that will have Lewes wastewater treated at the county’s Wolfe Neck plant and discharged into the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal.
It will likely be many years before the transfer from the existing treatment facility operated by Lewes BPW occurs. Studies, design work and construction will occur before the Wolfe Neck facility is expanded, and the Lewes plant is removed and the site cleared.
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 BPW approved the agreement by a 4-1 vote Dec. 10. The BPW 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. Council unanimously approved the same agreement Jan. 6.
The rate the county pays the BPW will increase from $3.02 per thousand gallons to $5.31 per thousand gallons.
Hans Medlarz, a county consulting engineer, outlined the project for council before its vote, noting at least 20 meetings preceded the agreement with Lewes. He said the arrangement was four years in the making.
The BPW will pay 20% of project capital costs, Medlarz said. The county will handle permitting and studies for the project, he said.
“We are taking on some responsibility to move this project forward expeditiously,” Medlarz said. “The faster we bring this to fruition, the less money it will cost us.”
The volume of wastewater generated in Lewes is not expected to increase significantly because the county sewer district surrounds Lewes, and the city is already largely developed and is not pursuing large-scale projects, he said.
The county plant is being upgraded to accommodate the additional capacity, Medlarz said. An expansion that includes a constructed wetland will require state approval, which is currently under consideration.
The entire cost of the project is expected to be less than $200 million, with the BPW’s share capped at $40 million.
The county will issue bonds to fund the project.
“You guys have done a lot of great work on this,” Council Vice President John Rieley told Medlarz. “This is the best possible outcome.”
Kevin Conlon came to the Cape Gazette with nearly 40 years of newspaper experience since graduating from St. Bonaventure University in New York with a bachelor's degree in mass communication. He reports on Sussex County government and other assignments as needed.
His career spans working as a reporter and editor at daily newspapers in upstate New York, including The Daily Gazette in Schenectady. He comes to the Cape Gazette from the Cortland Standard, where he was an editor for more than 25 years, and in recent years also contributed as a columnist and opinion page writer. He and his staff won regional and state writing awards.
Conlon was relocating to Lewes when he came across an advertisement for a reporter job at the Cape Gazette, and the decision to pursue it paid off. His new position gives him an opportunity to stay in a career that he loves, covering local news for an independently owned newspaper.
Conlon is the father of seven children and grandfather to two young boys. In his spare time, he trains for and competes in triathlons and other races. Now settling into the Cape Region, he is searching out hilly trails and roads with wide shoulders. He is a fan of St. Bonaventure sports, especially rugby and basketball, as well as following the Mets, Steelers and Celtics.
