Since its settlement in 1745, its location on the Connecticut River in western Massachusetts has shaped the destiny of the City of Holyoke. Access to reliable, high-quality water and wastewater treatment infrastructure has long been essential to supporting the city’s growth, industry and quality of life. PLDO’s attorneys are proud to have been members of the technical team that helped the City renew its legacy through the procurement of a recently-executed innovative long-term contract for the operation and maintenance of the City’s wastewater, stormwater and flood control facilities.
The contract went beyond just infrastructure and operations; the new contractor will be an active partner with the City in its effort to seek a 21st century economic rebirth driven by green energy and sustainability. The treatment processes for wastewater generate power. Left previously untapped, the City was leaving a sustainable energy source on the table, as well as revenues and savings. The wastewater system will now:
- Convert the heat produced by steam of spinning turbines to energy;
- Improve system operations to create new capacity for new businesses (producing new rate revenue);
- Enable the facility’s acceptance of residential septage or food and restaurant waste (for a fee), thereby providing more fuel to turn to energy;
- Optimize the use of energy-consumption reduction measures to reduce power bills (with the savings split by the vendor and the City); and
- Seek agreements with neighboring communities whereby they interconnect to the Holyoke system for the disposal of their effluent when there is sufficient available capacity (thereby growing the rate revenue base).
While Holyoke’s mills could not escape the devastating exodus of manufacturing from the American Northeast of the post-war era, the City’s current leadership are applying the lessons of its past to create a new economic future for Holyoke. They are promoting their assets – infrastructure, canals, renewable energy, new housing developed in abandoned mills, and the natural beauty of the Connecticut River Valley – to draw in green and sustainable industries.
The City’s existing Public Private Partnership (“P3”) agreement that provides both operation and management services of their water and wastewater treatment was expiring in September of 2025. The procurement of the successor agreement required an RFP process, however, a low bid procurement would not serve the goals here. Instead, they relied on scoring and vendor qualifications, followed by consideration of price proposals. This RFP process is not automatically sanctioned by Massachusetts General Laws, fortunately, the exemption obtained for the original P3 contract (Chapter 214 of the Acts of 2002), was still in effect, sparing any need for new legislation.
After interviewing each vendor team, a board-appointed screening committee performed the scoring based on the RFP’s clearly stated objective assessment measures. It was only when those results were entered and tallied that a separate envelope containing the proposed bid price would be opened. The bid prices could be considered in the final determination of which vendor should be recommended to the board and the mayor, but it was not determinative.
A performance led procurement process makes the RFP critically important. It had to be technically detailed; provide a clear list of all responsibilities and inventories associated with the facilities and assets to be managed; and disclose all governing permits; and, in this case, clear statements of the necessary economic development measures and their scoring.
Additionally, the proposed draft contract that the proposer was to annotate and submit, would serve as a working document for a free flow of communication and problem-solving by the selected vendor and the City, avoiding prolonged disputes. The history of the first Holyoke P3 highlighted this need.
PLDO took the lead on the draft contract, using the integrated technical team of career professionals with decades of experience in engineering, operation, procurement, law, and utility management and finance.
The City issued the RFP on January 23, 2025, thereby launching a six-month schedule of activities which would end with the award of a new contract. It followed a predictable path: a mandatory on-site briefing and tour; a two-week period for vendor submittal of what proved to be extensive written questions regarding the project; and a three-week window for the City to prepare written answers.
To ensure transparency and a level playing field, the City set up an electronic document room for vendor use that contained all of the materials regarding the RFP as well as those generated by this process. The matter was then in the hands of the selection committee. After interviewing the three vendors who submitted proposals and consulting as needed with the technical team, the selection committee undertook a thorough assessment of their competing proposals.
The selection committee made a clear choice, recommending the City undertake a 10-year contract with a five-year renewal option with Veolia Water North America – Northeast, LLC (Veolia). Given the new contract’s clear empowerment of the City to provide routine and systematic oversight of performance, as well as pre-determined contract language, the committee was confident that past issues would be avoided Holyoke is advancing environmental protection and restoring the City’s economic might by leveraging the power of their water resources that have defined them for centuries.
Attorney Bruce H. Tobey led the firm’s work on this project. His practice focuses on representing government entities as well as private sector clients in the areas of public contracts, water law, environmental policy, programs and financial and regulatory matters, sustainability, and governance. Attorney Tobey’s extensive experience includes representing numerous Massachusetts cities and towns in a variety of environmental and other public law matters.
