Clinton weighs a $28.5 million wastewater plant project with a private partner

Clinton’s wastewater plant is 50 years old and needs a major upgrade. A proposed $28.5 million project with a private company could pay for it and turn the plant into a regional biosolids hub. The village says it hasn’t decided anything yet, and residents are asking for more answers before it does.

What is on paper

The village board voted unanimously in June to let Mayor Elizabeth Tantillo sign a memorandum of understanding with Estian Partners Management Company LLC. She signed it June 25, WKTV reported. The village posted the document on its website on Sept. 10.

The $28.5 million figure covers a regional biosolids facility, upgrades to the plant’s liquid treatment and electrical systems, and building improvements. The proposed financing, as the Rome Daily Sentinel described it, is $8.5 million in Estian equity, $15 million in grants and a $5 million bridge loan until state revolving fund money arrives. The final structure would depend on the grants coming through.

Under the memo, a project company would own the treatment equipment and sell the village capacity under a 20-year service agreement, with an annual fee still to be negotiated. The plant would process about 7.3 million gallons a year, and the village would reserve a share of that capacity for its own biosolids. The rest would go to other municipalities.

What the village says is not decided

The memo is nonbinding and does not commit the village to spend money or proceed. It does include a 180-day exclusivity clause, in which the village agreed to negotiate only with Estian during that period.

At a recent village board meeting, a village official said the plant planning report is still in draft form and that “there is no definitive decision,” the Sentinel reported in a separate story. The official said Estian had approached the village while it was studying its options. “We were not seeking their funding,” the official said. “We may not seek it after all.” The village has not yet compared the cost of upgrading the existing plant with building a regional facility, and truck traffic estimates are still being worked out.

Who shares the plant

The plant serves the village, the Town of Kirkland and Hamilton College. Under their sewer agreement, the village sponsors bonds for plant work and the three partners split the annual principal and interest evenly. Treated water goes to Oriskany Creek, and sludge is trucked to the regional landfill in Ava.

Residents have come to village and town meetings to ask about environmental effects, including PFAS in biosolids, truck traffic, effects on nearby property and water, and how much say the public will have. The village’s August background document lists the next steps as reviewing the finished plant study, continuing talks with Estian to see whether a public-private deal is possible, and deciding how to proceed. The Waterville Times reported that Estian was formed in April to look at revenue-producing ideas for wastewater plants.