Spencerport officials share
plans for wastewater treatment plant

Only a dozen people attended a June meeting hosted by Village of Spencerport officials in which plans for the future of the village's wastewater treatment plant were delineated. Many of those in attendance were from the Maida Drive area, adjacent to the facility.

"The engineering firm we are working with offered a presentation and explained why we are looking to decommission the plant and what our alternatives are," Mayor Ted Walker said. "Our system needs upgrading - we looked at that and we also took into consideration the potential for increased capacity because of population growth and after that we looked at all our alternatives."

Alternatives for the village are to improve and upgrade the existing facility or to go offline and turn the operation over to Pure Waters. "We decided to go offline," Walker said. "It's more cost effective."

Engineering plans are continuing between the village, engineers and Pure Waters to undertake preliminary designs. "It's a collaborative effort to make sure we all understand the process, determine the pipe sizes, how many pipes we will need and who will run what once the change is made," he said.

Estimates put upgrading the facility at about $11 million while going offline and turning the operation over to Pure Waters will cost about $8 million. "The potential impact from going offline could range from $500 to $600 per unit," Walker said. "Upgrading could add significantly to the sewer fees."

Village officials are looking into low interest loans and grants and are working with other elected officials to soliciting funds for the project.

Walker said the county will reimburse the village for a portion of the project.

"After the meeting we passed a resolution to borrow the money - it is subject to a permissive referendum if enough signatures are garnered by residents," he said.

The project is in the design phase now and hopefully by winter or early spring the two borings which need to be made under the canal can be commenced. "Early 2007 would be the big construction year for us and we would hope to have the project complete in late spring 2008."

Walker said an additional meeting will be held, likely in August, for those residents who will be impacted by the need for easements to lay pipe. "We are hoping most of the construction in individual yards would be through the backs of them, not the front," he said.

Construction of a single story masonry building to house the pumps, backup generator and odor abatement equipment would be part of the project, he said.

"We anticipate minimal inconvenience for the residents and business owners during this project," he said.

July 9, 2006