By Buffy Calvert
The Town Board will hold a Public hearing on Thursday, September 1st at 6 pm.
The Town Board held a special meeting on Monday, August 15th to hear a report from Cedarwood Engineering representatives Tom Suozzo and Nick Bandal about the status of the well drilled on High Street Cemetery ground a few years ago and to suggest that the Town apply for a grant from the state Environmental Facility Corp. (EFC) for $2, 950,000 for a new water source for the Hamlet.
The well gives a good yield (40 gallons per minute) but initially gave off a Sulphur smell and taste. An attempt on the Andes School Ground yielded the same. But there is now a treatment for the hydrosulphates that seems to work in the High Street well. The engineers suggest that Andes launch a Pilot Project costing $25,000 to confirm that the well would be viable, followed by drilling 2 wells 200 feet apart on the site at a total cost of an estimated $2,950,000. The grant could cover 60% of that; the Town would need to borrow 40% at 3% interest.
The cost to those in the Water Districts (139 households. businesses, non-profit orgs, Town properties) would rise from the current $490 annually to $896.
Questions arose from the Board (Bud Gladstone, Supervisor, Shayne Moshier, Tom Hall, Ritchie Gabriel and Dale Cole) and the public (Jim Andrews, Buffy Calvert and Cyndi Wright, in person, Lillian Browne and Michael Leonick on Zoom).
Since we have a good water supply (springs, filling a reservoir, gravity flow) why do we need to change? Cedarwood: The state believes ground water systems are more reliable. They also believe in redundancy. Hence 2 wells far enough apart not to draw from the same source.
Could we just go for a grant of $25,000 to do the pilot and then, if it works, go for the $2,950,000?
If the pilot fails, the Town could refuse the rest of the grant, but this is a good time to make the application. It must be in by September 9th.
Bud summarized: The purpose of the Public Hearing is to inform the people in the Water District and others, to let them discuss the options so we on the Board can know what they think. At the end of the meeting on September 1st, the Board will consider the Proposed Resolution to go for the $2,950,000 grant/loan. ~