AUBURN - The city is looking to shut down a sludge incinerator at the wastewater treatment plant for possibly an indefinite amount of time.

Next week, the Auburn City Council will likely vote on an emergency resolution that would shut down the incinerator for two weeks while engineers look into structural problems with a furnace.

But according to a memo handed out to councilors Thursday, the incinerator is losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. It might be better financially to turn it off entirely and pay someone else to haul away the sludge produced by the wastewater plant.

In a letter dated June 3, a representative from Industrial Furnace Company in Rochester stated that one of the incinerator's hearths has lost a few bricks, leaving holes that could cause further damage. The city would need to shut down the incinerator for about two weeks to allow for proper cool down and inspection to properly assess how much work is needed.

But City Manager Mark Palesh said the incinerator - which burns blocks of sludge produced at the wastewater plant - has been losing money for years. During the 2007-08 fiscal year, posted $432,602.77 in losses. And a 2008 study of the city's water and sewer systems found more than $1 million in improvements needed at the facility.

“The number show that without running this incinerator 24/7 ... it's not cost-effective,” Palesh said during the meeting. “We probably won't be putting it back up again ... for the foreseeable future.”

Eventually, city officials are planning to replace the incinerator with an anaerobic digester, which would convert the sludge into natural gas and compost. That project, which is expected to cost an estimated $6.5 million, is currently on hold, and the city is searching for state and federal grants for assistance.

In other news:

* The city council approved resolutions slightly changing tax rates in two districts.

The rate in the Downtown Auburn Business Improvement District will go up approximately one cent to $3.10 per $1,000 of assessed value. That rate would produce a tax levy of $102,988, according to the proposal. The new rate will only affect members of the downtown Business Improvement District.

The Seymour Library District tax rate will go down to from 41.2 cents to 39.7 cents. The city#,s share of the library budget for 2009 is down approximately $1,000 to $348,155.51.

The council approved both resolutions 4-0. Gilda Brower was absent.

Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.