Regardless of what happens with the city’s sewer system in the northwest area, commissioners now believe plans for a $76-million sewage treatment plant scheduled for completion in 2011 may need to be accelerated.

The questions surrounding the northwest area’s sewer system has drawn attention to the fact that the city’s lone sewage treatment plant is very near its capacity. Commissioners were told Wednesday that the existing plant, 1400 E. Eighth St., can accommodate about 11,000 new residents between now and 2011, which is when a new plant along the Wakarusa River is scheduled to be completed.

“The evidence is building that we may have to move that project along at a quicker pace,” City Commissioner David Schauner said. “There is growing evidence that believing we could wait until 2011 may have been too optimistic.”

If the existing sewer plant runs out of capacity before a second plant is completed, the city likely would have to deny new building permits to ensure that it can treat all the sewage it receives.

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The difficulty is that the project is expected to be the largest city project in memory. Speeding it up may be easier said than done. But Mike Orth, an associate vice president with the city’s engineering firm, Black & Veatch, said it is possible the project could be completed six months to a year earlier if commissioners made changes to the design process.

Financial issues, though, also cloud the situation. The city is planning on using rates collected from sewer customers to pay for the project. The City Commission raised rates by 9 percent to 15 percent this year, and are projecting similar rate increases for the next four years. If the project is moved ahead, that will mean the city has had less time to collect rates to use as a down payment on the project.

Schauner said the city may have to take on more debt than originally anticipated to move the project forward. Commissioners said they did not want to increase sewer rates anymore than already projected.

City Commissioner Mike Amyx and Mayor Boog Highberger also said they thought the project may need to be moved up. But Highberger said he hadn’t seen evidence that the city was in a dire situation.

“I don’t think we’re in a situation where we need to spend lots of money to speed it up,” Highberger said.