Town septic site selected: Manwaring Road picked for Center’s wastewater treatment project

Without a formal vote but with general agreement among Town Board members, consultants Lombardo Associates got a go-ahead Tuesday for a final examination of the site at 16 Manwaring Road for a wastewater treatment system.

The process is expected to take one to two weeks before moving on to design plans for the Center wastewater project.

Pio Lombardo, who heads the outside consultancy firm, and Town Engineer Joe Finora were peppered with questions about the recommendation of the site as an alternative to using Klenawicus Airfield.

But unlike the questions that attended the original proposal to locate the wastewater treatment system at the airfield to service buildings in the Center, Tuesday’s queries were informational, not confrontational, with no one seeking to stop further consideration of the alternative site.

The nearest neighbor to the Manwaring site is the Sylvester Manor Farm stand.

Sara Gordon, who handles planning and sustainability efforts for the Manor, told Mr. Lombardo that Manor officials generally support the project and would be happy to provide information on its seven wells and other engineering information that would be helpful to his ongoing evaluation of the site.

“It’s an attractive location,” Mr. Lombardo said about the Manwaring site, while noting there are some technical issues to be examined. But he predicted no barriers to making the project happen.

There will be differences in pricing, Mr. Lombardo noted, because Manwaring is closer to the Center than Klenawicus and piping to carry liquid waste will be less expensive.

At the same time, the previous $3.8 million estimate will change now that the school has rejoined the project. That cost will be borne by the school district, which has money in a reserve fund originally targeted for its own septic system project.

It abandoned that idea because its plans would only treat nitrogen and the Center project would be designed to provide add-ons for other emerging contaminants.

There were many negative factors to placing the treatment system in the Center and, as reported previously, there were what Councilman Jim Colligan said were strong reasons Klenawicus neighbors didn’t want the system there.

Prime among the problems with various Center sites was the potential for affecting private wells on surrounding properties. There would also not be sufficient space for add-ons to treat other contaminants.

There were questions about the ability of soil to absorb treated waste water, potential noise and odors. Mr. Lombardo explained there might be solids in the water leaving the Center, but they would be so tiny, they couldn’t be seen with the naked eye and would be biodegradable and broken down by soil.

Solids essentially are treated at each building served by the system and those would be pumped out and taken off Island for treatment.

He said the treatment system would give off no perceptible odor and noise would be minimal. Both issues would be dealt with through landscaping of the site and a fan and electrical system would be boxed to contain noise, Mr. Lombardo said.

No one raised the issue of the wastewater project taking over a site originally being considered for affordable housing, but Supervisor Gerry Siller and Mr. Colligan reiterated that water quality had to take precedence.

Gordon Gooding, chairman of the Community Preservation Fund (CPF) Advisory Board said he was pleased the Manwaring site is being chosen because Klenawicus was purchased with CPF money.

Mr. Siller noted the Town Board still needs to further investigate how CPF properties can be used. Protecting the aquifer must be the prime concern, the supervisor said.

At the same time, he noted the Town isn’t looking to develop CPF land.