ATHOL — Town Manager Shaun Suhoski last week presented the Selectboard with the draft of a proposed intermunicipal agreement which would hand over operation of Royalston’s wastewater treatment plant to the town of Athol.
“The town of Royalston has a modest wastewater treatment plant with roughly 53 customers, I believe,” Suhoski told the board. They also have three pump stations that are tied into that.
“In recent years — and throughout western Mass, actually — it’s been a very difficult task for municipalities to find licensed wastewater treatment plant operators. It’s difficult for a community the size of Athol, where we have a full-time staff, and it’s even harder for the smaller towns, where they don’t need full-time assistance.”
Suhoski said the idea of an intermunicipal agreement was first broached when officials from both communities met to discuss issues relative to the Athol Royalston Regional School District.
“This came up,” Suhoski continued, “and I approached Mr. Kilhart, Mr. Walsh and Rob Sexton, our chief operator, about whether there was something Athol could do to assist; both providing more efficiency for the town of Royalston, but it would also provide some measure of — I don’t want to say subsidy — but some overhead that would go toward stabilizing rates in Athol. So, everybody comes out ahead.”
Kilhart is newly appointed DPW Director Dick Kilhart, and Walsh is Doug Walsh, who recently retired from the same position.
Suhoski presented the board with a draft agreement that was hammered out by officials from both towns.
“We could view this as a pilot program through the rest of this fiscal year,” he said, “and we’ve agreed to meet again in early 2021. We’ll have a better handle on costs and operations; Royalston will as well.
“But we do feel we accomplish this at a savings for Royalston, and provide a modest but fair margin for the town of Athol ratepayers.”
“I think Mr. Suhoski has pretty much summed it up,” Royalston Selectboard Chair Deb D’Amico said. “I would only add that we have experience already with your three system operators. Rob Sexton has been heading up the crew with us and has helped us out for the last eight or nine months. And we have nothing but very positive experiences with your crew.”
Kilhart told the Athol Daily News in a recent interview that, as he understands it, a recent estimate done for the town of Royalston determined it would cost that community in the vicinity of $150,000 to operate its treatment plant independently.
“I think we could operate it for them at a substantial savings,” he said. “And, at the same time, it would provide a little extra revenue for our department. It wouldn’t be a whole lot, but even $15,000 or $20,000 a year would be a help.”
Athol’s Selectboard voted unanimously to approve the draft presented by Suhoski, and instructed Suhoski, Kilhart, and Town Counsel John Barrett to meet with Royalston officials to hammer out final wording.