New York Rural Water Association

The Village of Sherburne, finally wrapping up a major facility upgrade totaling over 4 million dollars, was recognized as the Wastewater System of the Year, at the May Annual Technical Conference in Rochester this year. The Village is located north of Norwich, in the northern region of Chenango County. The facility upgrade for Sherburne has been in the works since 1994. As many of you know, obtaining funding is a long, and arduous ordeal. Successful completion of a project of this magnitude requires patience, tenacity, and team effort, all of which the Village of Sherburne leaders and employees posses, and deserve recognition for, and why they were bestowed this award. It all started during the May 1994 annual NYSDEC inspection of the wastewater treatment plant. After the inspection the Village Board was made aware of items of concern, which needed to be addressed. In a pro-active step the Board solicited and received request for proposals, (RFP's) from engineering firms to undertake the facility's upgrade plan. After interviewing five firms, a contract was signed with Barton & Loguidice on March 27, 1995. At that time the Village Board was comprised of the following people: Gregory Fuller, Mayor; William Acee, Trustee; Stanley Braun, Trustee; John Asma, Trustee; and Robert Smith, Trustee. Due to the retirement of the plant operator; John Guter, the daily operation of the plant was then undertaken on a temporary basis by Mr. Douglas Rundell, Water/Sewer Superintendent. Mr. Tom Turner was hired as Superintendent of Public Works in September 1994, and attended classes at SUNY Morrisville during the Spring and Fall to obtain his wastewater license the following year. Mr. Turner was issued his Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators certificate by the NYSDEC in November 1995. Changes to the Village Board took place during the 1995 elections, and consisted of the following people: William Acee, Mayor; John Asma, Trustee; Stanley Braun, Trustee; Donald Hall, Trustee; and David Jencen, Trustee.

On April 8, 1996, the Board was presented with a draft copy of the facilities plan, which was ultimately finalized after NYSDEC approval. This plan was presented to the public at a meeting held on April 22, 1996, and was met with favorable response from the Village residents. On August 12, 1996, the Board authorized Mayor Acee to sign the engineering contract, along with contracts for bonding, fiscal, and legal services. The Village Board also authorized a bond resolution of 2,400,000 dollars for this project. An application was made to the State Revolving Fund, (SRF) and to the RECD. At that time, the application to RECD was denied, however the SRF determined that the Village was considered to be eligible for funding under a zero percent loan for the total $2,400,000. Bids were opened in July 1997 and the lowest bid was in excess of $525,000 more than the engineering estimates. This ultimately resulted in a rejection of all bids and the project was stalled until additional funding could be sought.

Yet another turnover in Village Board members took place during the March 1998 elections and resulted in the following: Gregory Fuller, Mayor (re-elected); John Asma, Trustee; Stanley Braun, Trustee; Donald Hall, Trustee; and Sidney Westcott, Trustee. Mayor Fuller and the Clerk-Treasurer Kathleen M. Ellis began meeting with the Southern Tier East Regional Planning Board, Appalachian Regional Commission, (ARC) and USDA Economic Development agency officials to determine if applications would be appropriate to these funding agencies. It was agreed that applications should be submitted and were completed in August and September of 1998. An updated application was also submitted to USDA Rural Utility Services. In addition to this, an application was submitted under NYS Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act, however this was ultimately denied. A second application for the additional funding was submitted to SRF on July 12, 1998. Award letters were received from USDA Rural Development in October 1998 in the amount of $100,000 loan and $583,000 grant, USDA Economic Development Agency in February 1999 in the amount of $1,000,000. Further award letters were received from ARC in July 1999 for the amount of $200,000. Loan approval amounts were received from the SRF for the remaining $2,242,000 for a total project cost of $4,125,000. With financing in place, bids were opened a second time in March 1999. In April 1999, the Village Board awarded contracts to R.M. Buck Construction Company for general construction, R.DeVicentis for electrical, and King & King Mechanical for plumbing. Ground breaking ceremonies took place in April, as well.

The project was engineered to redesign, revamp, and overhaul a majority of the existing facility, last upgraded in the 1970's. The headworks lift station was replaced with two variable speed grinder pumps, and one conventional grinder pump. An improved flow-splitting device to the primary clarifiers, fiberglass flights, and plastic chain were installed. Two tall biotowers, (trickling filters) replaced the one, under-designed, rock media trickling filter. A flow splitting chamber to control recirculation rates, and flow splitting between the existing rectangular final clarifier and the new peripheral feed circular clarifier has provided the operators with a great deal of flexibility and operational control. An additional chlorine contact chamber was placed after the new final circular clarifier, and relieves the existing unit sufficiently to ensure adequate contact time. The anaerobic digestion process was almost completely overhauled with new mixers, new covers, new gas appurtenances, and a facelift. The sludge drying beds were covered, and additional drying bed space was created. A new standby generator and building were also included in the upgrade. These items, though oversimplified, represent just the tip of the iceberg, when one considers the logistics of coordinating the plumbing, heating, electrical, and automation of existing processes, piping, and equipment with today's technology. Although it has taken several years to come to fruition, a project of this magnitude, was made possible by Mayors Gregory Fuller, & William Acee, a dedicated board of Trustees, and an excellent group of employees; Tom Turner, Superintendent and Certified Operator; Douglas Rundell, retired Superintendent; Allen Doing, Certified Operator; Anne Lawrence assistant clerk; and Kathleen M. Ellis, Clerk-Treasurer.

For your persistence,
For your perseverance,
For ensuring clean water today, and for future generations Congratulations to the Village of Sherburne!