Penn Yan, Jerusalem approve sewer plan

PENN YAN--A nearly 20 year dispute came to an end Friday afternoon when the Penn Yan village board approved the modification of a sewage disposal agreement between the village and town of Jerusalem. Both municipalities have now agreed to new terms lowering Jerusalem's share of the Penn Yan sewage treatment plant's annual cost, while also settling litigation issues between the two parties.
"It's quite a relief really," Penn Yan Mayor Leigh MacKerchar said. "I think we can finally move ahead now and get rid of all the litigation and hopefully the hard feelings."
Jerusalem had previously been paying the village 31 percent of the Penn Yan sewage treatment plant's yearly cost. The new agreement will decrease Jerusalem's payment to 28 percent in the 2015-16 fiscal year, while continuing to decrease by 1 percent each year until it reaches the final amount of 25 percent. MacKerchar said the initial contract was "a fair agreement" when it was drafted in 1995, but added as the village evolved things changed to where the town believed they were overpaying for the service.
"It's something I didn't think we would be able to get done this quick," MacKerchar said. "It dragged on for many, many years. When I came into office in April I figured I would sit down with them and see what we could do. It's actually less than a year so I'm quite happy with that."
The Jerusalem town board had already approved the new agreement following a meeting held in late January. The agreement still allows the town of Jerusalem to send the village up to 265,000 gallons a day to the sewage treatment plant, as covered by the initial agreements. With the new adjustments now in place, Jerusalem must also make a $42,000 payment to the village of Penn Yan "representing the settlement of all prior claims by Penn Yan against Jerusalem," according to the agreement. Chief Executive Officer of the Finger Lakes Economic Development Center Steve Griffin had been working with representatives of each municipality throughout the past few months as mediator in order to negotiate new terms each party could live with.