Englewood City Council approved a contract establishing a per-acre rate farmers will pay for the Littleton/Englewood Wastewater Treatment Plant to apply what is called biosolids, a dry material from the treatment process, as fertilizer on land used to raise wheat.

The plant owns rural property near Byers and Bennett. In the past, utility officials have worked with local residents who raise wheat on the land with a third of the proceeds of the sale of the wheat going to the plant.

Weather and market levels impact the proceeds from the crop so the amount of money the plant received varied from about $158,000 to a loss of $6,700. The average plant proceeds were about $69,000 a year.

The March 7 agreement established a flat $8-an-acre payment to the plant for the use of the land, which means the plant will receive about $50,000 in lease payments annually.

“In the past, the amount the plant would receive would vary depending on market value for the wheat and the size of the crop production,” said Stu Fonda, utilities director. “This proposal will continue to allow effective use of the biosolid materials and provide a stabilized income from the crops.”

He noted the previous agreement was to split the proceeds of the sale of the crop into thirds with one-third covering the farming costs, one-third going to the farmer and one-third going to the plant. Under this contract, farmers play a flat $8 an acre fee to use the land and all proceeds from the crops go to them.

Biosolid is the material remaining after the treatment process. It has been repeatedly tested by laboratories at Colorado State University and found to be safe to use as fertilizer for wheat farming. The plant also has received Environmental Protection Agency awards for the beneficial use of the biosolids.

The plant is jointly owned by the cities of Englewood and Littleton and is a regional facility serving about 300,000 customers. From 1955-1996, the city councils approved spending the money to purchase about 6,400 acres of rural land near Byers. They also had a contract to use an estimated 900 acres of land near Bennett but have now used that site for biosolid distribution.

“Part of the land is allowed to sit idle each year,” said Jim Tallent, plant operations division manage. “That means we only spread the solids on a portion of our land. Last year, for example, we spread 3,500 dry tons of biosolids on about 2,100 acres of farm land.”