Clarendon residents still seek water

It's a long, arduous process that might not reap results at the end but residents in the Town of Clarendon made it clear they want water. And some of the grant funding, like the residents' wells, have dried up, Supervisor Dick Moy told residents at a recent public information meeting.

"Grant funding for building water districts has faded into the sunset for the most part," he said. "It's taken us, sometimes, up to four years from start to finish to get districts put in and when it comes time to start digging, the cost of materials and labor has gone up and now the district doesn't fit the financial guidelines."

Whether residents like it or not, the federal and state governments set what they believe is the maximum amount a household can afford to pay for water and if a water district cannot come under that threshold, no money will be approved for its installation, Moy said.

"There is water all round us," resident Jim Wright said. "People on the side roads have it and I'd think if you were developing water districts they would go down the main roads."

Moy said water districts are formed, sometimes in hard to understand formations, in order to meet the financial thresholds. "We have to look at the number of paying parcels when the engineers put the figures together … agricultural districts make it hard to meet the financial criteria because there aren't enough parcels to pay for the water."

Board member Paul Nicosia said the town board has concerns for all those who don't have access to water. "We're well aware that people don't have water and they need it. That's why we are here tonight," he said.

The December 6 meeting ended with residents vowing to begin surveying their neighbors and doing what they can to get new water districts started.

December 18, 2005