GOUVERNEUR — The village soon will begin a $2.4 million renovation of its sewer plant that has been years in the making.

"This is a very big deal for us," Mayor Dorothy L. Vorce said. "We started looking at it at least five years ago. It just needs to be updated."

The village will open bids Wednesday for general construction, mechanical and plumbing work, electrical work and sludge removal and disposal, one of the more pressing issues.

"It has never been done. It's been over 20 years. That's a long time to not clean them out," Mrs. Vorce said. "One of the lagoons is relatively new. The others need to be cleaned out. You can walk around the lagoon and see where the sludge has built up. It's not functioning the way it should."

The work will include aerators and other general repairs and renovations to provide adequate capacity should a large business want to move to the community.

Sewer rates were too low to qualify for a grant, so the village will borrow the money.

"They told us our rate would have to be $400 per user per year in order to qualify for a grant," Mrs. Vorce said. "We pay around $250 a year."

The village recently raised the rate $9.75 per unit per quarter, up from $54 to $63.75, but that was to maintain the system it already has.

"We'll have to have another raise to pay for the debt," Mrs. Vorce said. "It shouldn't be too much."