Hennessey’s sewer lagoons are at 50 percent capacity because it has been dry for six months, said Wastewater Superintendent Bryan Burch during the town board’s planning session Feb. 5.

“Rainwater is what hurts us,” he said. “The lagoons are holding. They are fine, except two of the south lagoons have eroding banking...We could run a third one.”

Burch recommended for the town to start upgrading its sewer lines and manholes and said some sewer lines need to be gutted.

“Some manholes have been replaced,” he said in his written report, “but others are the old brick manholes that are deteriorating with age. That allows groundwater to infiltrate the sewer system and most of the sewer lines are clay pipe that have been in the ground for years and have cracks.

“Some manholes are below ground level and that also allows water to infiltrate,” he said.

Upgrades to sewer lines will help with the developments on the north side of town, Burch said before he presented his list of needs for that department in the next 20 years.

Burch is also Hennessey’s reserve police captain and trainer/partner with Oz, the town’s K-9 officer.

1-5 year plan

• Purchase Jetter vacuum truck (approximately $150,000) to clean lines in-house instead of hiring outside company to clean quarterly.

• Inspect manholes to locate and determine which need repaired or replaced.

• Clean and camera-line half the town each quarter.

• Replace lines and manholes.

• Install lift stations and lines north of town as needed for development.

• Replace irrigation reel or add to help get rid of water.

• Purchase new pickup.

5-10 year plan

• Add, or replace irrigation reel.

• Add pumps at lagoon for irrigation.

• Continue to replace manholes and lines.

10-20 year plan

• Build a new holding cell, or sewer plant, to accommodate development.