ASTORIA, Ore. — It’s a good day when you can flush the toilet without a second thought.
An upcoming Astoria Public Works project hopes to keep it that way on a citywide scale.
At a recent meeting, the Astoria City Council signed off on a number of items related to upcoming major maintenance work on three of the city’s sewage lift stations. The lifts are located at intervals along an interceptor line and help move sewage and stormwater collected from across Astoria to sewage lagoons on the east side of Astoria.
Between 2 million to 18 million gallons might be pumped into the wastewater plant a day. The lifts have been in service since the mid-1970s.
“And, really, nothing has been replaced since then,” said Cindy Moore, assistant city engineer.
The city plans to replace key components of the lifts and modernize other parts. Moore said the structures that enclose the lifts are still in good condition.
The work comes with an estimated cost of $3.5 million and is set to begin next summer. The city has secured a variety of grants and loans to help cover the cost. City staff plan to continue looking for funding to cover what the city could be responsible for paying.
“For a maintenance project like this, it can be difficult to get forgivable loans and grant funding,” Moore noted.
Astoria was eligible for a key state loan that is half forgivable because for years the city has offered a program for financial assistance to ratepayers. Astoria may need to carry a little over $1.6 million on its own. In that case, Moore estimated that the impact on residential users could come to around $1.50 more a month in sewer rates.
“As far as paying for it, we never imagined that these grants would roll in like this,” Public Works Director Jeff Harrington said. “This is going to be less than half price. Even if we cannot find additional funding, to have $2 million in grants and $1 million and a half in loans is the best you can ask for.”