Rehoboth agrees to wastewater partnership
After months of discussion, and with many of the finer details still to be hammered out, Rehoboth Beach commissioners voted in favor of creating a regional wastewater partnership with Sussex County and Lewes Board of Public Works during a meeting Dec. 20.
Mayor Stan Mills said the county has been a good partner. He said there will be safety mechanisms put in place, and growth will happen regardless of this partnership.
County and Lewes BPW officials approached Rehoboth this summer about the creation of a regional wastewater partnership because Lewes needs a new wastewater treatment facility. The county has offered Rehoboth a one-time payment of $20 million, and to pay for future operation and maintenance costs related to the outfall. In return, the county would like the ability to pump up to 5 million gallons per day through Rehoboth’s outfall.
A consultant hired by the city said the county’s proposed payment was reasonable and that the outfall pipe has the excess capacity to handle the request. Additionally, a collection of senior city staff believed all concerns have been adequately addressed, and they recommended the city move forward with the proposal.
Commissioner Suzanne Goode was the lone vote against the partnership. She said she still has concerns about the effluent polluting the beach and Rehoboth ratepayers taking on all the responsibility. Voters went to referendum to build the outfall years ago and, Goode said, she doesn’t think they were aware of the excess capacity when they voted in favor.
Voters shouldn’t be expected to take on the risk without consent, said Goode, who continued to push for delaying the vote in favor of a town hall meeting in January.
In attendance at the meeting were a majority of Lewes BPW’s board members, Lewes City Council members and a host of Sussex County officials. Lewes BPW President Tom Panetta and Sussex County Administrator Todd Lawson did the talking on behalf of the group.
Panetta said the cheapest option to fix Lewes’ problem would be for the town to run a pipe to the county’s Wolfe Neck treatment facility and then run the effluent back to its discharge pipe in the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal that currently exists. Lewes and the county don’t want to do that because it’s not the right thing to do, he said.
Lawson said the county and Lewes officials fully understand the magnitude of what they’re asking Rehoboth to do.
As part of Rehoboth’s approval, City Manager Taylour Tedder was tasked with overseeing the negotiations of the final details and then bringing the issue back to city commissioners for final approval.
Following the favorable decision, Lawson said he was happy with the results and that it’s exciting everyone is collectively working together.
“I wasn’t sure how things were going to turn out today,” said Lawson.
Panetta said he had similar feelings to Lawson and appreciated the concerns raised by Rehoboth commissioners and citizens.
“We all have lots of questions,” said Panetta. “This is the start of reaching an agreement.”
Even with questions, Lawson said the county will begin modeling flow rates for the outfall immediately because there’s a two-year window to get that done. The county has a contractor on standby ready to get to work, he said.
