With Little Public Input, Sewer District Progress Discussed in Carmel
The Carmel town board is slated to vote on a bond to pay for up to $1.1 million in improvements to Sewer District #1 when it meets on Sept. 2.
The improvements were discussed at the Aug. 26 town board work session.
A public hearing was held on the plan to reconstruct sewer lines for inflow and infiltration and inflow remediation.
Town Supervisor Ken Schmitt said the repairs would be made in the downtown Mahopac business district.
At last week’s public hearing, the only resident to speak was Jim McKay.
McKay asked how much homeowners living in the sewer district pay for the project and if those owning one or two family houses would pay more than those owning properties with more families. Town Counsel Gregory Folchetti replied the cost per property would vary if the sewer plan is approved. “Each property is assessed a property value,” he said.
Folchetti said the state Department of Environmental Conservation has issued a Notice of Violation to the town and is threatening daily fines of $37,500 a day if the problem in not rectified.
The problem is that during the spring thawing season untreated groundwater enters the plant, Folchetti said. “We’re over 100 percent of capacity” during the thawing season, he said, adding during other times of the year the plant typically operates at 65 percent of capacity.
Chief Engineering Consultant John Folchetti, the town counsel’s brother, said the sewer pipes under Route 6 in Mahopac “date back to the 1930’s.”
McKay again asked town officials about how much the project would cost property owners in the sewer district. John Folchetti said the cost would be $247 per year for the owner of the average assessed property in the district if a 20 year bond was approved by the town board or $193 annually if a 30 year bond was okayed.
The board voted unanimously to close the public hearing.
The town attorney said at least four of the five town board members would need to vote in favor of a bond for the project to be funded.
