Filtration System Delayed; Water Rebate Check Has Arrived
by Alex Brooks
The Petersburgh Town Board held a special meeting on August 2 with Don Fletcher and Rich Straut from Barton & Loguidice about the water grant application. Fletcher said Petersburgh’s application has been deemed complete, and those reviewing the applications have said they expect it will take about five weeks to review them.
[private]Although Petersburgh is expected to have a high priority for this grant because of the PFOA problem, there was some concern about the project being ill-defined because the application had to be prepared on a short deadline. The application asks for $8 million, although the maximum that can be granted from this program is $3 million.
Supervisor Alan Webster said he wants to clarify what the Town wants to do and what it will cost. “We need to do the field investigation.” Webster wanted to have a better idea where suitable new wells could be drilled. The areas identified on the map made by Barton & Loguidice were identified by looking in geology books rather than doing any investigation on the ground, and both are problematic. The northern one is in an area where wells are getting PFOA in the water, and since it is downstream of the plume from the Taconic plant, the levels there are likely to rise in the future. The southern one is almost all in the Town of Berlin, and the Board was concerned about having a well that is not in their own town.
Water Superintendent Ben Krahforst floated the idea of collaborating with Berlin or possibly combining the two water districts, but he said the Berlin pipes are old and have leaks, and would need to be upgraded. The Board was unenthusiastic about collaborating with Berlin, citing the difficult time they had coming to an agreement with the Berlin Board about a new transfer station agreement.
The other major question that remains completely unresolved is that of expanding the Water District to include homes with contaminated wells who now have individual filters on them. Whether such an expansion would run only from the existing system to the area of the Taconic plant, or whether it would include other areas of Town was an open question, and one that would have to be resolved before designing any upgrades to the Water District system. When searching for new wells or designing pipes, filters, and storage tanks, one would need to know how many homes are going to be served by the system and what volume of water is needed.
Members of the Town Board said they had heard residents who have individual water treatment filters on their wells speak on both sides of this issue. Webster said he believes there are some people who want to connect their homes to the Water District system, and others who do not want to do so. But if the water district is expanded, everyone in the new district, however it is defined, would be required to contribute to supporting the new water infrastructure. However, this is one of the subjects being negotiated with Taconic, and it is possible that much of the cost of the new infrastructure will be paid by Taconic, and homeowners would not have water bills, at least for a period of time.
Another recent development mentioned by Water District Superintendent Ben Krahforst is that he was contacted by Senator Gillibrand’s office, and they said they wanted to help Petersburgh secure Federal grants to pay for water infrastructure. A meeting is expected to be arranged in the next two weeks. Several people said it would be helpful if the Town could define its project more clearly as soon as possible so that they could ask for something specific at this meeting. Webster said he is concerned that if we are successful in getting someone to drop a huge sum of money on us, we need to know specifically what we would do with it.
Don Fletcher suggested a four-point plan, meaning all four things have to be pursued simultaneously. The first is to meet with Gillibrand’s people to investigate what funding can be sucked through that channel. The second is to apply for water infrastructure funds from the USDA, where Fletcher said the Town could get up to a half million dollars. The third is to get going on field testing, to determine where the Water District can find clean water in sufficient quantity. And the fourth is to consult with homeowners in areas that would potentially be served by a water district expansion to see if they support such an expansion. Although many uncertainties remain, this gave the Board a rough plan for how to move forward.
Environmental Attorney
The next matter on the agenda was whether to hire an environmental attorney. The Board interviewed Kevin Young, from the Albany firm of Young & Sommer, and were very impressed with him. They wanted to go ahead and retain him, but they were uncertain exactly what the terms would be, so they asked Webster to get a specific proposal. It was noted that the Town of Berlin has recently retained Young. Supervisor Webster said he has asked Young if he thinks there is a problem with having him represent both Petersburgh and Berlin, and Young said he does not think there is a problem.
Water Bill Reimbursement Check Arrived
Supervisor Webster said the State has acted quickly to deliver the check they promised for water bill reimbursements. A check has arrived for $15,255 for that purpose, which the Town will soon begin to distribute to Water District patrons. The plan is to rebate water costs for a six month period of time.
Water Filtration System Delayed
Although it was not discussed at the meeting, Water District Superintendent Ben Krahforst said the water filtration system is now scheduled to be completed by the end of October. The system planned for installation this month was rejected by State engineers, who are designing a new system. When that design is completed and approved, contractors can move forward with supplying and installing the filtration system, but at the moment it is tied up in a design phase.[/private]