Repairs To The Petersburgh Water District Part Of The Discussion At Special Town Board Meeting
By Doug La Rocque
From an environmental standpoint, we are looking at “repair, replace and upgrade.” Those are the words of the town’s environmental attorney, Kevin Young, as he explained the steps required to begin the bonding process for repairs to the water district’s equipment, disposal of any PFOA contaminated sediment in the water tank, and the drilling of a new well to replace two existing wells. Another high priority listed in the project’s estimated costs include the purchase and installation of a SCADA system, which would, among other things, monitor the water levels in the tank. That is something Water District Superintendent Ben Krahforst has to do manually at the present, by actually climbing the tower. The total project is estimated to cost $800,000, but Young has said his firm will help the Town apply for a state grant which could cover as much as 60% of the cost. That would mean the Town would have to come up with $320,000, unless Taconic pays some of that cost because some of the improvements are needed because of the the filters installed to remove PFOA from the water.
In order to apply for the grant, the Town must first legally begin a bonding process for the entire $800,000. That in no way commits the Town to spending any or all of it. At Young’s urging, the Town Board first approved a long version of a SEQR report, that indicated the work required fell into the aforementioned repair and replacement category, and declared no negative environmental impact. The Board also approved a resolution setting a public hearing on the proposed bond for Monday, September 11 at 7 pm in the Town Hall. If the Town were to acquire the grant and chose to spend the remaining $320,000, the cost per resident of the Water District on a 30-year bond at 3% percent interest would be $226. If the Town were to go along with the engineering study, the highest priority items would be completed this year, with the remainder spread out over a two-year period.
Opening Bids to Replace the Town Hall’s Heating System
The special meeting was also called to open bids requested by the town to replace its aging boiler that is no longer functional. Three bids were opened, and ranged from simply replacing the boiler and making any repairs needed to the system, to an elaborate proposal that would in effect, reconstruct and bring the system up to some of the latest technology available. The low bid for the boiler replacement came from Carlton Coon Heating and Plumbing of Hoosick Falls. That came in at $12,200. Main Care Energy of Albany quoted an oil heat system for $28,250 and a gas system for $32,500. The high bid came from Schenectady’s Rocco Resceb & Sons. They proposed a steam boiler replacement and upgrade at $48,800 and a hot water heat system bid at $74,800.
Because of the varying degrees of technology associated with the bids, some Board members plan to meet soon with some experts in the field to guide them in making the best choice. They agreed to place the bid issue on the agenda for their next workshop meeting on Thursday, August 10 at 7 pm. At that time the Board may chose to accept one of the proposals, or reject them all and put them back out to bid.