Each of the six towns have been working on long-range wastewater management plans in order to cut back the amount of nitrogen flowing into the Island’s waters.

Oak Bluffs broke ground Thursday on a new wastewater treatment facility aimed at cutting down the amount of nitrogen flowing into nearby Lagoon Pond. 

Among the items voters will consider at the Oak Bluffs town meeting are paying for upgrades to the town’s wastewater and harbor infrastructure, and business-friendly zoning amendments.

The Oak Bluffs wastewater facility is poised to undergo a complete makeover in the next few years, reconfiguring the infrastructure and increasing the capacity for the town, hooking up new neighborhoods to the plant.

Tisbury and Oak Bluffs are gearing up for expansions to their aging wastewater facilities, as officials root out illegal sewer hookups and seek nitrogen mitigation methods.

As Oak Bluffs continues to see rapid growth, the town’s aging wastewater treatment plant received a lifeline Tuesday.

With only two months to go before the Oak Bluffs wastewater plant switches into gear, the town has no one to man the operation.

Town leaders were all set to hire a private firm to take the job, but when they took a close look at bids from four companies, it was a serious case of sticker shock. Last week, both the wastewater committee and the board of selectmen unanimously rejected all bids.

"We went down [that] route, and we just got stung badly," said wastewater committee chairman Fred Sonnenberg. The numbers, he added, "scare the life out of you."