RICHMONDVILLE — An estimated $1.6 million in improvements to the Village of Richmondville sewer system will likely be whittled down by the Board of Trustees with help from other village officials over the next few weeks and months.
That consensus was reached at a special Trustees' meeting Tuesday, March 10 as board members, Village Public Works Superintendent Eric Jones and others said they will work on prioritizing the improvements and deciding which items are most crucial.
The $1.6 million estimate was from Engineer Brendon Becker, who attended Tuesday's meeting to present information and answer questions. That amount is $600,000 more than the $1 million buy-in fee the village is receiving from the Town of Richmondville for accepting and treating sewage resulting from the town's upcoming sewer improvement project estimated to cost somewhere between $12 million and $16 million. The village has received $700,000 of the buy-in fee.
Tuesday's special meeting was held to bring village officials and residents up to speed on the town's project and its ramifications for the village. Becker's $1.6 million estimate included improvements to both the village collection system and its treatment plant and included TVing lines, repairing and replacing manholes, a new screw press for the plant, automatic bar screen for the plant, control upgrades for the plant and several other items.
Becker's $310,000 estimate for the screw press included enclosing the press in some kind of structure that is insulated and heated. Jones said he and his crew could likely take care of the structure part and possibly save the village $100,000 or more.
"The screw press is a biggie and we'll need it at the plant," Village Mayor Carl Warner Jr. said. "We also have I and I (inflow and infiltration) issues that have to be done."
Warner added the village system is adequate as is to accept the sewage resulting from the town's improvement project. "The plant can sustain this but these are upgrades we want to do," he said.
Jones added the village needs to think about the future and what improvements are needed to keep the sewer system operating safely and efficiently.
Next steps for the village are to set a budget for improvements, prioritize items and eventually with the help of Becker go out to bid on improvements, those at Tuesday's meeting said.
"You guys tell me what you want to do and how soon you want to do it," Becker told village officials. He added he can look into grant possibilities that could leverage and add to the $1 million buy-in fee and possibly bring the total amount available for improvements up to the $1.6 million or maybe more.
On the town's improvement project, which will bring public sewer service to a large part of the town including Warnerville, Becker said bid documents are currently being reviewed by the main funding agency for the project (New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation).
"We're hoping for a quick turnaround," he said. "They have 60 days for the review but hopefully it will be sooner than that and as soon as they are done with the review, we can go out to bid."
Becker added that hopefully there will be flow from the town's sewer improvement project by June or July of 2027.
"It might take awhile for everyone to hook in, but there could be some flow by the summer of next year," he said. There was also some discussion at Tuesday's meeting on financial assistance available for low or moderate income families to hook into the system once the town's sewer improvement project is done.
Village of Richmondville sewer system improvements could be discussed again at the next Board of Trustees meeting on Monday, March 16, which will start at 5:30 p.m. with the board's regular monthly meeting, followed immediately by a budget workshop session.