Article Contributed on: 6/5/2009 2:41:36 PM
The city of Brighton took a big step forward in its plans for the future in securing an agreement to join the metro areas' largest wastewater treatment authority.
Brighton City Council approved an intergovernmental agreement June 2 to join the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District, which currently serves more than 1.2 million people in areas including Denver, Arvada, Aurora, Lakewood, Thornton and Westminster. The agreement, which still needs to be approved by the district's board of directors, has been in the works for several years, said Jim Landeck, utility director for the city of Brighton.
"The concept was first discussed in the early '80s," Landeck said. "It's taken decades for these things to finally come together with the various entities."
The agreement helps pave the way for construction of a regional wastewater facility to be built west of Highway 85 and Weld County Road 2.5 near the dividing line between Adams and Weld counties. The facility, which is expected to be operational by 2015, will eventually replace the city's current facility near Highway 85 and Highway 7.
The transition will be slow, he said. The current treatment facility is expected to be phased out over the course of the next 25 years.
"The ultimate benefit is that the city doesn't have to make major investments and upgrades to expand our current facility," Landeck said.
The city of Brighton will contribute approximately $2.85 million toward land acquisition and construction costs for the new wastewater treatment plant. When it's fully built out, the facility will have a treatment capacity of 52 million gallons a day and will eventually service the cities of Commerce City, Aurora and Thornton.
The current plant has a capacity of approximately 2.1 million gallons a day, Landeck said.
The agreement comes on the heels of recent actions concerning the city's water. Council recently approved an increase in rates for water customers to help fund the Westminster Water Lease project.
Water customers will begin paying $1.50 more per month for water charges only beginning in 2010. In 2011, the rate would increase another 25 cents to a total of $1.75.
Council also approved a water usage rate increase of 3 percent and a 2 percent increase in sewage rates beginning in 2010 to help fund operations and maintenance costs. In 2011, those rates will go up again another 3 percent and 2 percent respectively.