May 2011
February 2011
November, 2010
May, 2010
August, 2010

Port Media Video on Excavations at Coombs Wharf
Discovery of Pre-Revolutionary War Wharf May Delay Project, Newburyport Daily News, October 15, 2010, Katie Farrell Lovett, staff writer
Digging Through History, Newburyport Daily News, November 13, 2010, Lynne Hendricks, staff writer
'Heartbreaking Problems', Newburyport Daily News, December 1, 2010, Lynne Hendricks, staff writer
Wharf Owner Key Figure in Revolution, Newburyport Daily News, December 8, 2010, Lynne Hendricks, staff writer
Digging Deeper, Newburyport Daily News, December 8, 2010, Lynne Hendricks, staff writer
Water Plant Digging Reveals Another Find, Newburyport Daily News, January 15, 2011, John Tilton, staff writer
By Accident, 18th-Century Wharf Revealed, The Boston Globe, January 27, 2011, Taryn Plumb, Globe Correspondent
Piece of 18th Century Bartlet Wharf Headed to Maryland for Conservation, Newburyport Daily News, February, 22, 2011, Dave Rogers, staff writer

Select project plans (Updated) 

Please note that the entire Contract 1 Bid Documents are 248 sheets and are available for review at City Hall in the Water/Sewer Billing Office, at the Department of Public Services, and at the Wastewater Treatment Facility.

The Newburyport Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) was originally constructed in 1963 as a primary plant and was subsequently upgraded to provide secondary treatment in 1984. In 2001, odor control facilities were added to the plant. The facility provides biological treatment of wastewater prior to discharge of effluent into the Merrimack River. The facility is designed to treat an average daily flow of 3.40 million gallons per day (mgd), and peak flow of 9.45 mgd.

The WWTF is located at #157 Water Street within the city’s waterfront marine dependent zone.

The objective of the Newburyport WWTF Improvements Project is to upgrade the facility to provide continuous treatment of all wastewater flows and pollutant loadings in compliance with its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the next 20 years. As part of this effort improvements to support facilities (buildings, electrical, instrumentation & control systems, etc.) are also necessary.

A portion of the WWTF Improvements project design has been undertaken with a fast track schedule to take advantage of construction phase state and federal funding sources including the Massachusetts State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan program, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding program and the Green Infrastructure Reserve fund. To maximize the funding contribution for this project and allow for less disruption of the operations process, the work was divided into two construction phases.

The main components of the proposed project include improvement/upgrade of the existing treatment processes and equipment, reconstruction of the existing process building and upgrade of the current aeration system from mechanical surface aeration to fine bubble diffused aeration (which includes the construction of a new building to house the aeration blower equipment).

The proposed project also includes construction of a new Operations, Control and Laboratory (OCL) building on the 115 Water Street site adjacent to  the WWTF. Until recently, the site was privately owned and was used for boat sales and storage during the winter. In October 2009, the city acquired the site through an eminent domain taking. As previously mentioned, one of the primary reasons for obtaining this parcel was to provide the contractor with a staging area.

The 115 Water Street site is known to contain petroleum contaminated soils within a portion of the area where the new OCL building is proposed. Some soil remediation measures for this contamination were undertaken by the previous property owner, though more extensive remediation/removal measures, in areas of proposed construction, are anticipated as part of the WWTF Improvements project. See Areas of Proposed Work figure for the approximate extents of the proposed work.

The new OCL building has been designed to fit architecturally into the surrounding neighborhood and to incorporate Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) principles, and will be LEED certified following construction. The orientation of this new building has been designed to minimize impacts on neighbor’s views to the Merrimack River, while still providing the necessary connection to the adjacent existing WWTF site. See attached Conceptual Rendering for a perspective on the entrance to the new OCL building. These architectural and orientation design principles have also been incorporated into the re-construction of the Process/Operations building and the new Aeration Blower building on the existing WWTF site.

Bids for Contract No. 1 were opened in December 2009 and include the construction of the OCL Building, many of the process improvements (with the exception of work in the existing headworks, influent pumping, solids dewatering and odor control system) and the aeration system upgrade. Contract No. 2 will include the remainder of the process improvement work and the re-construction of the Process/Operations building.

Meetings/Hearings for this project have been conducted with the City Council, the Planning Board, the Building Commissioner, the Conservation Commission, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Fire Chief, the Police Marshall and other appropriate local officials. A Notice of Intent was filed with the Conservation Commission and an Order of Conditions has been issued. The project has received approvals on the Major Site Plan Review application filed with the Planning Board and on the Special Permit and zoning variances requested from the Zoning Board of Appeals. We have also appeared before the Newburyport Historic Commission regarding building demolition and have coordinated with the Massachusetts Historical Commission, the Department of Environmental Protection Waterways and the local Chapter 91 Citizen’s Committee. Additionally, two public meetings have been held during the design phase of this project (two public meetings were also held during the planning phase).

Public meeting(s) will continue during the construction phases of this project. Please check this site for scheduled dates and locations.

A Traffic Management Plan for this project is included in the construction documents. This plan requires that construction vehicles for this project travel on the following roads to and from the project site:

• Interstate 95
• Scotland Road/Graf Road
• Low Street (east of Graf Road)
• Pond Street
• High Street (east of Pond Street)
• Federal Street
• Water Street

Several provisions of this project specifically address goals to maintain and enhance public use and access to tidelands and waterways. These provisions include the following:

• A new 8-foot wide concrete sidewalk will connect the sidewalk on Water Street (and crosswalk to Lime Street) with the existing walking path that is adjacent to the Merrimack River. This will preserve and improve pedestrian access to the riverfront. See Site Plan and Sections of Sidewalk figure.
• The design includes improved access to the American Yacht Club. A new 24-foot access drive to allow public access to OCL building as well as member access. This will allow for easier access for boats in tow, and at the same time, protects the existing use of this waterfront property.
• Improved site lighting and buried utilities.
• The proposed Operations Control and Laboratory (OCL) building includes a conference room for staffing meetings and public meetings such as the Sewer Commission's regularly scheduled monthly meeting.
• A stormwater management design has been completed for use during and after construction to protect water quality.
• Minimized construction impact based on the use of a construction staging area located on the 115 Water Street site.

A project meeting was held on June 22, 2010 to discuss project construction items. Please see linked Public Meeting Summary for specific information discussed.

Historic Project Timeline (Calendar Years 2004 through 2009)

Key Contract No. 1 Construction Schedule* Items:

* Schedule dates provided were estimated by the contractor and are subject to change.