AUBURN - While it's not a glamorous topic, the subject of sewers is one that drew dozens of people Monday to hear U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer speak.

That and the money he promised to Auburn for its wastewater treatment plant.

The city will receive $500,000 to develop a power source for the facility in connection to the biodigester that has yet to be built.

“We will be known for the extent of which we solve our own energy issues,” Mayor Timothy Lattimore said.

He called Mayor-elect Michael Quill to stand to his left as they listened to Schumer address aging sewer systems.

Schumer spoke to 30 city employees, visiting politicians, and city officials, and the four television news cameras perched in front of them in a conference room in the city's wastewater treatment plant Monday afternoon.

During the press conference, Schumer spoke about two acts he sponsors, including the Water Quality Investment Act to allow $14 billion in low-interest loans earmarked for sewer improvements.

Lattimore thanked the senator for the $500,000 grant. More importantly than that one-time payment, however, is the possibility to refinance a $66 million loan the city borrowed in the mid-1990s with a low-interest loan program, he said.

“The debt payment is choking us,” Lattimore said, adding, adjusting the interest would be a “tremendous help to users.”

The senator also supports the Water Quality Investment Act, which would increase federal grant funding for maintenance and upgrades to municipal sewer infrastructures. He encourages municipalities to apply for grants and loans early.

Schumer stressed the fact that local municipalities face changing issues. He pointed to rising Medicaid expenses a couple years ago.

“Now ask counties and localities what the top two or three problems they're facing and, more than before, they'll say water and sewer,” Schumer said.

Many cities or counties built their sewer systems more than a half century ago, he said. Auburn's wastewater treatment plant was built in 1935, said senior mechanic Mark Storrs. While the infrastructure was updated twice since then, Storrs can think of $1 million worth of equipment the city should buy or replace in the plant.

“(Sewer systems) were the top of the line then, but they're not top of the line now. They need updating,” Schumer said.

Aging systems need improvements to reduce pollution, ensure commercial and residential growth, and prevent unsanitary situations in homes, he added. The time has come to focus on maintaining current infrastructures rather than only looking to build new systems, he said.

“You can't ask Auburn taxpayers to shoulder all the burden,” he said.

Staff writer Jessica Soule can be reached at 253-5311, ext. 267 or jessica.soule@lee.net