- Grantsville needs a new wastewater treatment plant to replace its outdated system.
- The $48 million project could raise residents' sewer bills by $30 starting in July, according to a current proposed rate analysis.
- City officials seek financing options to minimize impact on residents' fixed incomes.
GRANTSVILLE — Leaders in Tooele County's second largest city are grappling with how to handle costs for new public utilities infrastructure.
While the City Council has not yet approved a rate adjustment, current proposed rates based on the most recent study show residents could see their sewer bill jump by nearly $30 starting in July, with smaller, subsequent increases each year through 2035.
Grantsville is in need of a new wastewater treatment plant that will replace the city's current lagoon system that's been in operation since the early 1970s, which no longer meets the needs of its growing population, officials explained during the City Council's Feb. 18 meeting.
Aside from more residents, Grantsville fell out of compliance with the state's rule on phosphorus discharge amounts into Utah's waters back in 2019, public works director Christy Montierth said during that meeting.
When the city began exploring how to increase the lagoon system's capacity and meet compliance they realized a treatment plant would be needed.
"We need this new system to increase our capacity and also meet the phosphorus and different levels that the state has set and the (Utah) Department of (Environmental Quality)," said Councilman Derek Dalton.
Grantsville started looking into plans to build a wastewater treatment facility in 2022; its estimated cost then was roughly $32 million. It has since jumped to $48 million — a portion of which would be covered by a private bond, said Robert Rouselle of Ensign Engineering, the firm that conducted two sewer rate studies for the city.
The proposed rate analysis, however, was calculated on a "worst-case scenario," according to Dalton. No rate increases have been set in stone.
"We are looking at other options to try to get them reduced even further," he said.
Grantsville is currently soliciting bids from contractors for the project, which the city says it hopes to have finalized by the end of March, Dalton said. That may provide a clearer picture of the financial impact to the city and its residents.
Dalton says he understands why the new facility is needed as well as how an increase to residents' monthly bills may affect them.
"I know we have a lot of people on fixed incomes that it will affect, and we're trying our best and everything we can to make sure we're getting those increases as small as possible," he told KSL on Monday.
A discussion on the sewer rate study is on the agenda for the City Council's meeting on Wednesday, but Mayor Heidi Hammond said they aren't voting on the adjustment that night as they're exploring options to lighten the impact from infrastructure loans.
"We're hoping a few things line up in our favor, as far as finding financing at lower rates and things of that nature," she said.
Hammond didn't say exactly when a final decision could be made regarding the anticipated sewer rate adjustment, but the clock is ticking as Grantsville has until the end of March 2029 to have the new facility up and running.
"And if we don't meet that, then we could be fined by the state for not meeting that deadline," Dalton said.
Grantsville was granted a five-year extension to complete the project after it was originally given until 2024 to have the facility built.
"So, (it's a) pretty urgent matter, but we've noticed since we've known about it, since, you know, 2018 or 2019, and unfortunately, the city then didn't take any steps to kind of get a nest egg for this," Dalton said.
