- By Dan Veaner
- Around Town
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The public information plan has been part of the committee's agenda since it began meeting more than two years ago, but this phase of their work ramped up several weeks ago as they put the finishing touches on the scope of the project itself. The initial portion of the project is split into two segments, the $7.3 million trunk forced main sewer line that will connect the Town with the Cayuga Heights treatment plant, and a $10.95 million delivery system that will allow properties within the initial service area to hook up.
Everyone in the district will pay for the trunk sewer. The cost for most households will be $148 per year. Only those who are hooked up in the initial service area will pay for that portion and operational costs. Those will typically pay $854 annually. But from there it gets complicated, and the more complicated it gets, the better it gets for residents. If the Town can get a 3% loan that $854 becomes $743. And as more homes are built within the district they will share the costs, reducing it even further. On top of that a subcommittee is trying to raise money for the project from the County and private donors. Their goal is to reduce that fee further to $548.
 All properties within the red boundary are included in the proposed sewer district. The green area shows the initial service area. |
If private donations and loan guarantees work as hoped, the donors will receive the lowered rate to a certain level before homeowners' rates are lowered. This is because the donations will have lowered the homeowners' rates from the beginning. But eventually those rates would also go down as development continues. State funding has been allotted for a portion of the expense, and a $1.5 million grant from Watch Tower, which owns the Kingdom Farm, will also help keep costs down.
The Town may have to further pursue the Watch Tower grant, as the Jehovah's Witnesses plan to sell the 500 arce farm. But Town Attorney Guy Krogh says they are still obligated to provide the grant to the Town. Meanwhile, the Town and Village are negotiating over details that will determine who is responsible for building the trunk sewer, which must be laid through the Village in order to reach the treatment plant.
They are also negotiating how much the Village will pay into the project, further reducing costs to residents, to pay for the share of their residents who would hook into the Town's trunk line. An estimate by Mayor Donald Hartill predicted that Village usage would be only 8%, a figure the Town disputes, saying that the formula for determining Town usage is not the same as that used to calculate Village use. Committee Chairman Bud Shattuck and Village Trustee Frank Moore agreed that a formula should be agreed upon to be used for both. Moore contended that the result would be lower than the Mayor's estimate, while Shattuck said he thought it would come out higher.
The two municipalites have also discussed basing the initial agreement on historical growth within the Town and village, but also periodic adjustment of the rate depending on how many new homes are actually built throughout the 20 year loan payment period. Both agreed that these are details that can and will be negotiated, and shouldn't hold up the progress of the project. "What I'd like to do is sign it for one year," Shattuck said. "Then say it will be adjusted at the end of one year and then every five years after that."
While there has been some opposition to the sewer adding to already high taxes, committee members noted Wednesday that the negative comments are shifting from people who don't want it at all to people who want it but are not in the initial service area. The public information sessions will give them their chance to get the answers. Engineers plan to explain how the service area will expand once the initial collection system is complete. Officials are hoping for a large turnout at this Wednesday's session and at the Open House so as many residents as possible can have their questions answered about the project.
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