BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – On Tuesday, Jan. 11 the Bellows Falls Village Trustees approved the purchase of the Shincci Sludge Dryer and contract with Resource Management Inc. of Holderness, N.H.
Last fall, Municipal Manager Scott Pickup told the board that RMI was ending their contract with Shincci-USA. The only other representative for Shincci-USA was located in Yuma, Ariz.
The village had choices to make; purchase the machine from RMI and begin a new contract, end the contract with RMI and begin a new one with the Arizona firm, or purchase a new dryer and compared prices on a stainless steel model.
The purchase decision had weighed heavily on receiving Vermont’s certification for Class A biosolids.
At the meeting on Jan. 11, Pickup announced they had received certifications for both Vermont and New Hampshire Class A biosolids. This is a designation set by the EPA for land use. The biosolids can be used for fertilizer on farms, vegetable gardens, and used by home gardeners as compost.
Pickup explained that the contract with RMI included off-setting the cost for disposal, saving the village $350 per month plus any hauling fees if wet sludge needed to be disposed.
There were concerns with the storage of the Class A biosolids. The department proposed a long-term solution to build a dry storage building large enough that trucks could haul waste from it. Pickup said the goal was to apply for state ARPA funding for the dry storage which was separate from federal ARPA funding.
James McAuliffe wondered where the Class A fertilizer was stored currently. Pickup said the department was placing it into bags and that farmers picked it up at the facility.
Pickup said another concern was locating domestic replacement parts for the Shincci dryer system. The Village had only minor parts available for replacement at this time.
He said there were also concerns with floodproofing the building and the storage. Further work was needed to protect the machinery and biosolids with flood gates and thresholds.
The Trustees approved the agreement unanimously between the Bellows Falls Village Corporation and RMI. The capital improvement note for the Shincci dryer system was $268,450.
The Trustees meet on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. in the Lower Theater of the Bellows Falls Opera House.