PARADISE >> Just last year, the Paradise Sewer Project seemed to be on a trajectory to finally come to fruition with the help of an outside-the-box plan to bring planning and construction into one clean package.

In recent months, however, it became clear that the cost of the project over the multiple-year timeframe would grow far beyond what the town could feasibly pay, pushing the project back significantly.

At Tuesday’s Town Council meeting, Public Works Director and Town Engineer Marc Mattox provided an update on the project, saying that the committee exploring the proposed sewer system is now looking at communities of similar sizes with sewers to determine a path forward.

“In the past month,” he said, “our ad hoc committee — which is comprised of town staff, Mayor (Steve) Crowder, Councilor (Heidi) Lange, representatives from the Paradise Irrigation District, our town manager and our project team — have been really advancing our work to make a recommendation to the Town Council and the community for a revised project for wastewater treatment collection and dispersal.”

The committee recently toured facilities run by other municipalities and held online meetings with managers outside of the town.

“We made stops at Rio Alto Water District, the Mount Shasta Water Treatment Plant, Lake of the Pines, Placer County for their North Auburn Sewer and Maintenance District I,” Mattox said. “We did meet with Butte College as well (as) the city of Eureka as well as Saint Helena Wastewater Treatment Plant and lastly Sutter County and the Community of Robins about their system there.

“And then, he added, we also met with the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board staff to discuss anticipated requirements for any treated wastewater discharge.”

In addition to these meetings, the committee held workshops to go over alternative collection methods. The committee plans to continue touring other facilities over the next month.

Mattox went on to say that the goal remains to serve as much of the town as possible within the town’s budget for the project.

“We are going to continue our funding and advocacy efforts for the project,” Mattox said.

Two special public meetings are planned in the near future to provide information to town residents, with the first being at 6 p.m. July 24 and the second at 6 p.m. Aug. 14. Both meetings will be held at the Paradise Performing Arts Center at 777 Nunneley Road.

Other business

Aside from the sewer update:

• The Town Council approved its 2025-26 fiscal year budget.

• A presentation was given on the Paradise Arts District and the work it does to promote local arts and culture within the town.