You're INvited! Lindale Ribbon Cutting

Nearly seven years since beginning planning work, AHW is please to announce that we are cutting the ribbon on the new community septic system at Lindale MHC in Middlebury! Join with residents, AHW staff, and funders with some light refreshments as we celebrate decades of benefits to health, affordable housing, and the environment. We'll take a short walk through the woods to visit the new wildlife habitat created by the disposal fields.

When: Wednesday, October 16, 1pm
Where: Lindale MHC (off 116 in Middlebury, 0.3 miles north of the intersection with Quarry Road)

RSVP

Built in the 60s and expanded in the late 80s, Lindale is home to 67 families in Middlebury. About three miles from downtown, the park is an important contributor of workforce housing to the community, but too far to connect to the municipal wastewater system.

Most of the homes in the old part of the park were connected to their original individual wastewater systems, which had not been upgraded in the 60 years since they had been installed. Many were failing and well past the end of their useful lifespan, and some residents even reported sewage backing up into their washing machines and bathtubs. The park is largely built on Addison County clay soils, limiting the potential to repair the systems on site and causing stress to the park's finances as systems needed to be pumped in some cases weekly.

The new system is a 20,000 gallon-per-day system that is fully compliant with the state Agency of Natural Resources' Indirect Discharge Program permitting requirements and will safely serve the park for decades to come, ensuring adequate wastewater treatment before it reaches Addison County waterways and our beloved Lake Champlain. The new system also improves and protects clean water within the Middlebury public water system's source protection area.

The Lindale Community Septic project began in 2017 with a planning grant application to the Vermont Community Development Program (VCDP). The planning grant led to negotiations with a neighboring landowner to acquire a parcel with capacity to support a new system. In 2021, AHW refinanced the park with tax-exempt financing from VHFA, allowing AHW to close on the parcel and begin design development work with pre-development loans from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. Local firm Otter Creek Engineering provided the engineering services for the project. Construction funding was secured from many partners in 2022, including Rural Development's Water and Environmental Programs, the ANR Healthy Homes Program, the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, VCDP via the Town of Middlebury, and the EPA via Congressionally Designated Spending thanks to Senator Sanders. Belden Construction was selected via a competitive bid process and the project broke ground in 2023 with homes being hooked up to the new system by Thanksgiving of that year. The second replacement leach field as well as park repaving, final connections, and punch list work was completed in September 2024. Construction costs totaled $3.3 million, with soft costs including refinancing debt to allow for new infrastructure loans adding up to a grand total of over $5 million to complete the project.

RSVP