BURRILLVILLE – The Town Council took another small step forward in the effort to extend town sewer lines to Chapel Street last week, with the approval of a $54,000 allocation to match a new $216,000 grant from the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank for the project.
The funding will be used to extend the town sewer line by roughly 90 feet, crossing the river to connect to an existing sewer manhole, an essential component of the long-hoped-for project to connect the larger area.
“This is a very important piece of potentially extending sewers down Chapel Street/107 in the future,” explained Town Manager Michael Wood. “It’s not going to solve the entire problem.”
The effort to bring sewer lines to the Chapel Street corridor has been discussed for decades, with town-commissioned studies and years of planning for the costly and complicated project. The area holds several businesses, but town officials have long noted that the lack of infrastructure has held back the potential for economic development.
The town received a $250,000 Municipal Infrastructure Grant in 2023 with a town match of $62,500, and has since completed engineering work, also boring into the ground.
“Since then, we designed the thing and did the geotechnical work, and found out that there’s a ledge,” said Public Works Director Jeffrey McCormick. “So the price went up.”
McCormick said that when he learned the cost estimate had risen to $588,000, he returned to the Infrastructure Bank to see if more funding was available. And the town was approved for another $216,000 – with another 25 percent match.
“This is money in hand from grants, but you’d have to match it with the money you allocate tonight if you do it,” Wood told councilors at their meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 12. “The environmental stuff here is the most important stuff. Once you cross that river you don’t have to worry about it in the future either.”
Still, Wood noted, the larger $5 million project to extend lines along the road to reach area businesses will remain far from completion.
“Even if we do this one connection thing, we’re still years away from getting the design and permitting of the rest,” Wood said.
McCormick noted that manholes were installed in the road when the town reconstructed an area of Route 107 some 20 years ago.
“That was smart on their part,” he said.
With the recent extra funding, the line will connect to a 24-inch sewer interceptor, but will be capped until more work can be completed.
“It’s a huge endeavor,” explained Wood. “It also requires a lot of permitting.”
Councilor Stephen Rawson noted that the owner of the gas station, car repair shop and variety store on Chapel Street currently has plans to install holding tanks in order to address sewer concerns at the small plaza. The issue has delayed Village Gas owner Zeshan Abid’s plan to open two more businesses inside the convenience store – Brewology and Fresh Pita. Rawson said the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management will require Abid to block off bays in garage area to be compliant.
“That would be an unnecessary expense if this is coming down the road for him, I would think,” Rawson said. “It’s tough timing for him.”
“It’a going to take years,” Rawson said. “We’ve been looking at this for a long time. It’s vitally important to have that done if we could, I think.”
McCormick said that once complete, the sewer will have a 100-year lifespan.
Councilors unanimously approved the latest match with $54,000 from the Major Capital Fund.
“Hopefully we can get this going with this match, which is a great return on investment, and finally get this corridor finished,” said Councilor Justin Batalon. “That’s been a thorn in the town’s side – not just the town council’s side – since i’ve been sitting on it for years. It’s handcuffed a lot of the growth and potential tax revenue for the town.”
“Hopefully we can get that done and we move forward, and the town can continue to grow and prosper,” said Batalon.
A section of dry sewer lines and manholes were installed on Chapel St at Union Ave in 1996, when the bridge at that intersection was replaced on Chapel, not 20 years ago. Finish the job already.