New Well, New Tank – Big Price Tag

Erieville Water District asks board to look at other options

By Margo Frink

(Nelson – Dec. 17, 2009) It was a full house at the Nelson Town Board meeting Thursday night. More than 30 residents living in the Erieville Water District came out to a public informational meeting to speak out against costs facing the district for a new well and holding tank. Others offered suggestions on how the district could possibly save money. Aaron Lazzara, a representative with the Madison County Health Department and town Engineer Richard Elliot were in attendance to answer any questions from the public.

Exiting-Supervisor Richard Williams offered up a run down on how the district got to the point of where it’s at.

About eight years ago a report was issued from Madison County and the state of New York that the individual springs used as the supply source for systems were unsafe, Williams said. Six years ago the town purchased an acre of land and drilled a well. The well was tested and proved to be an adequate source of water. The storage tank was drained and inspected and it was found that the interior lining was failing. There was pitting on the inside and small leaks began to form from pin holes on the bottom. The town is currently plugging those holes with stakes as you would a rain barrel. The tank will continue to degrade.

Four or five years ago, Williams said, samples from the springs showed micro-organisms in the water. The springs could be affected by surface water and could be harmful to user’s health. If the springs are used as a back-up treatment would need to be applied to the water source, which was found to be very costly.

“The original price of the project was between $300,000 and $350,000,” Williams said. “With the add-ons, the cost doubled to $700,000.”

The town pursued grant money, applying for a Small Cities grant among others. Currently, Williams said, a New York State Revolving Fund looks promising. It was based on a scoring system and the district qualified for a zero percent interest loan with a 30-year payoff.

“More grant money would be good,” Williams said, “possibly a hardship application.”

A grant of $125,000 was secured by Assemblyman Bill Magee but the grant is contingent on securing funding. Williams said the district could borrow a small amount of money for 20 years at 2 to 3 percent interest.

Nelson resident Paul Kazunas said the cost of the project verses the users was absolutely prohibited. There are about 70 users in the district.

“It would jeopardize our lifestyle and impact property values,” Kazunas said. He wanted to know if the proposed cost was a general ballpark figure and if any alternatives had been researched to reduce the cost of the project.

Elliot said that probable costs were his opinion based on the scope of the project. Construction costs are based on competitive bidding.

Elliot said alternatives were looked at including buying a 60,000 gallon tank rather than a 100,000 gallon tank.

“We intended to provide treatment to the existing spring source but it would have been expensive to meet the state and federal standards,” Elliot said. “We stand ready to review any aspects of this project. I can provide professional opinions.”

Residents continued to question the safety of the springs.

Lazzara said the springs are only 20 feet deep and in 2005 raw samples were taken. Some tested positive for chloroform, e-coli, fungi and algae. They were also found to contain mircro-biologicals from road salts, he said.

“Chlorination is getting it out but if you have a large scale infiltration,” Lazzara said.

“Are we under the gun or is this just prudence,” asked John Redmond?

“We had 18 months,” Lazzara said. “We are over that. It will come to the point you will be under the gun. Fines will be issued from my office. The EPA will get involved and then your local connection is gone. If the sources aren’t replaced it will be turned over to the EPA and then it will be out of my hands.”

In a nutshell the district is looking at drilling a redundant well and replacing the holding tank. Another well needs to be drilled because the district is required to have two sources of water. There is not a lot of capacity in the first well.

Nelson resident Greg Isbell showed the board and everyone in attendance a product he saw demonstrated at the Herkimer Field Days. The product is called Spray Roq and he said it is being used all over the country to repair holding tanks. Elliot said he would research this product. It could be an option to repairing the tank.

The reality for resident Fred Gamlen is what the cost will do to his household. Gamlen applied the scenario of costs to his family of four. His water bill in 2009 was $537, he said. With new the new costs, Gamlen said on average he would pay $1,224 a year and the worse case would be $1,922 a year.

“People, I ask that we keep working on it,” Gamlen said. “We got all the brains here. Go back to the drawing board.”

After more than an hour of discussion, Williams said the message was clear.

“We can’t afford this,” Williams said. “We are not moving forward. The board is charged with looking at other options.”

Margo Frink is managing editor for M3P Media LLC. She can be reached at Margo@m3pmedia.com or 315-481-8732.

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New Well, New Tank – Big Price Tag

Erieville Water District asks board to look at other options

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