HOLYOKE — Through a 2-1 vote, the city’s Board of Public Works will ask Mayor Joshua Garcia to invite proposals from companies interested in taking charge of Holyoke’s wastewater treatment services.
The existing 20-year contract expires on Sept. 29, 2025. Holyoke has never switched contractors since its initial contract with Aquarion Water Co. Aquarion was succeeded by United Water Resources which was succeeded by Suez Water Inc., which was acquired by Veolia.
DPW Board Chair Mary Monahan read a statement during the board’s July 29 meeting saying that opening up a competitive procurement process “is not a reflection of the performance of Veolia, the current contractor. In fact, I look forward to seeing Veolia’s submission in response to the RFP [request for proposals].”
Representatives from Veolia were present at the meeting and confirmed they would bid on the new contract.
Monahan added during the meeting she was interested in seeing how the next long-term service agreement could incorporate technologies that generate green power and advance Holyoke’s economic development initiatives as well as generate revenue.
Garcia shared similar sentiments.
“We’ll be looking proposals through a ‘green’ lens, both in terms of energy generation and the waste stream,” said Garcia. “Wastewater management is a huge responsibility that I, as mayor, take very seriously. We have to be certain that our systems are state of the art.”
Holyoke’s annual wastewater service fee for fiscal year 2024 is an estimated $7.3 million. The final billing is affected by sewer breaks and other factors that could add to the final bill.
Speaking with Reminder Publishing, Monahan explained that with the city on the end of a 20-year contract, the contract has become outdated and a new one must better reflect the world they currently operate in.
“We’re working on an almost 20-year-old contract that reflects technology and environmental and cultural needs of 2005. Since then, technologies have advanced rapidly in this industry, climate change has become an issue and there’s new funding opportunities if you’ve got the plan that can help advance some of what our goals are,” Monahan explained.
While proposals are still some time away from being accepted by the city, this work is currently developing the vision of what the city wants for its wastewater management partnership. Monahan added the City Council will need to approve funding to hire a consultant team that will help develop request for proposals with the city and be a partner in reviewing future submissions and making a recommendation to the mayor.
Monahan said finding the right partner was important for expanding the city’s green industries and for incorporating an efficient system made out of the vision they are currently building.
“At the wastewater treatment plant, that waste stream can actually serve as a fuel source that generates power through anaerobic digesters and gasification which can replenish the city’s gas supply. All this needs to be studied and not just to make sure that they’re technically feasible at this site, but that they have a return on investment. Any capital investment made, ideally, is going to generate revenue that will more than pay for the capital investment and help stabilize sewer rates,” Monahan said.
She continued, “What we also have — which to me is the most exciting — a plant that’s permitted for about 17 million gallons a day of flow. We only have about 8 million gallons a day in flow. What we want to do is begin to market and let industries out there nationally who need this capacity due to what their manufacturing process is. Food industries, breweries, they need capacity in wastewater treatment plants. Many times, they’ll go to a community more than happy to take them after they invest millions of dollars in expanding the infrastructure to accommodate them. We can accommodate them. We have that capacity already right there.”
Monahan added building off that capacity can lead to the formation of affordable real estate prices in the downtown industrial area and the formation of inexpensive green power. According to Monahan, looking at the excess capacity it is worth $8 million in unrealized revenues in user fees for the city.
“We just need to let the industries know we’re here. Part of this is also to promote the fact that, ‘Hey, come to Holyoke if you’re looking for that capacity.’ To simplify it, we’re plug and play,” Monahan said. “We want moving forward to be working with a partner that’s going to help us in promoting our wastewater treatment plant because its green, its generating power, its affordable and it’s got capacity for what you need.”
About a year and a half ago, Monahan and Garcia began collaboration to appoint an ad hoc committee of volunteers to explore two options: either extending the current contract with Veolia or open it up for bids. The committee’s members were Andy Fiske, Brian Beauregard, Mike Sullivan, Mimi Panitch and DPW Director Carl Rossi.
During the meeting, Beauregard read a statement explaining the committee’s mission and research.
“It is impossible to overestimate the importance of this matter,” Beauregard said. “Sanitation and handling of waste are among the most fundamental of all urban infrastructure. Always critically important, the challenges it presents have only grown as our society’s technological sophistication has increased, and our understanding of the health risks of industrial activities in the past has improved. With our new understanding has come emerging demands, such as the new requirement that wastewater systems address so-called “forever” chemicals in our waste streams.”
Beauregard reiterated that bringing the services out to bid was not intended to imply any criticism of Veolia.
“We believe this contract would attract significant interest from most or all of the industry’s most important and technologically sophisticated firms, and it would thus allow Holyoke to learn from and to compare proposals from a multitude of experts in the field.”
