Peter Giakoumis (left) and Peter Jandrisevits of Weston & Sampson Engineering, Inc. take measurements on Feb. 7 while surveying for the town center sewer project. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)

In spite of the uncertain status of Harvard’s application for a subsidized loan and delays in final passage of critical enabling legislation, town committees and hired engineers are preparing to begin construction of the town center’s first sewer system by mid-year.

The new system was approved at the 2009 Annual Town Meeting (ATM) and will serve 65 single- and multi-family homes scattered around the town center, as well as nearby churches, businesses, and municipal buildings. In addition, the town will upgrade its treatment plant on Massachusetts Ave., which already serves the schools and the new library, to correct problems that have led to periodic violations of Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) standards.

Many town center residents are counting on the sewer to replace failed or questionable septic systems. A Municipal Buildings Task Force is already envisioning future uses for the old library, Hildreth House, and Town Hall. Businesses, such as the General Store, hope to expand their services.

When the Press checked in with Town Sewer Building Committee Chairman Chris Ashley this week, he reported that in spite of a snowy winter, the test borings needed to plan the placement of sewer pipes were complete, and that he expected to have an engineering design completed in time for his committee’s next meeting in March. “We’ve wanted to lay the groundwork,” said Ashley, “so we could put the project out for bid as soon as funding became available.”

To fund the new system, Harvard is counting on a $2 million loan from the DEP’s Clean Water Revolving Fund. The fund, financed with federal dollars, makes money available to towns at 2 percent interest for treatment and sewer construction projects. In backing the town center sewer project last year, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) unanimously voted to make the 2 percent number a “circuit breaker,” meaning that should the town fail to raise funds at that rate on a 20-year loan, they would return to Town Meeting for another vote. In 2009, the DEP made $723 million available to 85 projects, but its prioritized list for 2010 is not yet out.

Ashley told the Press in a phone interview this week that the number of applications to the DEP this year is rumored to be high and that given the DEP’s system for scoring proposals, Harvard’s request could end up far down the list. “We don’t know whether we’re actually on [the final project list] or off it,” he said. However, Ashley noted, Harvard has the advantage of Town Meeting approval, citizen involvement, and a near-complete engineering plan. Given the tightness of municipal budgets this year, he observed, he guessed many towns higher on the list are likely to drop out. “Everyone involved is optimistic that we’re going to see the funding,” he said, “but it’s going to take a little while to go through the process. So, we’re going forward and keeping our fingers crossed.”

Meanwhile, the bill that creates a governing framework for the new system is once again back in the state legislature. It passed both the House and Senate and was sent to the governor for signing earlier this year. But now it’s back in the House with two minor technical amendments requested by the governor’s office. Katherine Green, a legislative aide to State Representative Jennifer Benson, says she expects the legislation to quickly pass both the House and Senate again, and will be back on the governor’s desk in two to three weeks.

And yet another group, the seven-member Harvard Town Sewer Policy Committee, is already looking ahead to the day when the system is complete and its three appointed commissioners take their seats. Their task: to prepare recommendations for the selectmen for how betterments and operating costs should be allocated and paid by those who benefit from the system.

“It’s like cooking a big batch of scrambled eggs,” said Ashley. “Nothing happens for a long time, and then all of a sudden it coagulates and it’s done.”