Spencerport improvement projects
under additional review

Village of Spencerport officials gathered together with residents and taxpayers for a meeting on October 27 that lasted more than three hours to discuss some important and difficult decisions the village is facing.

The village officials were looking to the public for guidance on two initiatives which, combined, could cost in the neighborhood of $10 to $14 million.

The issue that appeared to hit more close to home, Village Administrator Al Scheg said, was a proposed road construction project that involves a 30-year global plan on road work and maintenance. "We put together a street program so we know how much to capitalize each year in terms of road improvements and maintenance," Scheg said of the 30-year plan.

The village routinely does maintenance and repair of the streets, but this project looks at maintaining and improving the roadways under a quantified program which village officials believe will improve the village's overall network, and in the long run, cost less money for maintenance.

Under the program, Scheg explained, "The village would be able to maintain its streets at a high level for less money." But to get there, village officials say, up front money, in the range of $4 to $7 million would be needed over a five to 10 year period. "This period road program will definitely impact taxes and will impact them negatively," Scheg said. It costs close to 10 times as much to rebuild a street than it does to maintain it, Scheg explained of the program.

"It's sometimes hard for people to get a grasp of the size of the issues we are looking at," Scheg said. "People understand we need to do this but the village has to decide how much it can bite off in this project."

There are still a lot of questions that need to be answered before any decisions are made on the 30-year road plan and Scheg said that when village officials begin the budget proposes in January, the road project will likely be factored into the figures.

The second issue placed before the public concerned the village's waste water treatment facility. Built in the early 1960s, the facility processes sewage from the village and from a few areas of the Town of Ogden that are adjacent to the collection system. Sewage is treated, runs into Northrup Creek to Long Pond and eventually into Lake Ontario.

Prior to the public hearing, Scheg said it was getting increasingly more expensive for the village to stay in the wastewater treatment business. "We have an aging treatment plant that is seeing the end of its useful life," he said in an earlier interview.

The village has to make a decision to put "major" money into rebuilding and expanding the facility to meet the ever-increasingly tight state and federal guidelines or find another alternative such as linking with Monroe County Pure Waters. The village would still own and maintain its collection system pipes in the ground and the manholes but it would no longer process the treatment portion of the system.

The project, Scheg said, wouldn't affect taxes but it would impact the sewer usage rate. "Rates would be adjusted upward, primarily to pay down a 20-year debt for what we feel is going to be somewhere around a $6 to $7 million expenditure," he said. "Our best guess is sewer user rates would rise somewhere between $100 and $200 per year."

After the October meeting, Scheg said it appeared the decision consensus seemed to be that going with Monroe County Pure Waters was the way to go with the sewer plant. "We're going to continue forward with the project and work with Monroe County Pure Waters on this project," he said.

In other matters, Scheg said the village was moving forward with the road project on Coleman, Coolidge and Barrett Avenues. "We finished the engineering end on the project so it can now go to bid," he said.

The project, Scheg said, was a substantial one for Spencerport and they would be working in conjunction with the Monroe County Water Authority with the street project as it would involve replacement of some water mains and new storm sewers. "We're anticipating the project would be ready to go for the spring construction season."