Councilman pushes Center I/A systems plan: Could lead to start of wastewater project

Last week, the Town Board was about to move forward with member reports on committees they monitor. But then Councilman Gordon Gooding proposed a resolution to use a $1.25 million Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant to start installing Innovative/Alternative (I/A) septic systems in Center public buildings, starting with Justice Court and Police headquarters.

That the resolution was put forward for a vote at a work session was inappropriate, but the idea met with general support by members in terms of doing work necessary to moving the stagnant proposal forward.

Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams explained that resolutions can only be put forward for votes at regular Town Board meetings and this resolution needed work before the Town Board could vote. But she didn’t try to squash the idea. Instead she called on Town Engineer Joe Finora about doing design work on the project.

Mr. Finora said he was pleased to finally have a sense of how the Town Board wanted to proceed, adding that a budget is necessary to get the process started. To move forward, he will need to get updates to previous surveys and money for applications that will have to be filed. Ms. Brach-Williams offered to meet with him about the specifics.

Once financing for these preliminary steps is determined and steps taken to design the project, approval is required from the EPA to use the money for this specific project. That’s because the grant was initially approved by the former Town administration for a central wastewater treatment system to be located on a site on Manwaring Road opposite the Sylvester Manor Farmstand.

When that proposal drew widespread criticism from the public, the next step was to determine if the grant might be used for another purpose, but that got tangled in questions about whether any federal grant might be forthcoming from the Trump administration. The last review indicated the grant was still intact, but no action ensued.

If there is money available for the steps Mr. Finora must take to develop a plan for I/A systems to be used, and the EPA says it would allow the grant to be used for the cost of I/A system installations, a resolution authorizing the project would move forward as long as the Town Board could earmark its 20% share of the project.

All parties had two words of advice: Stay tuned.