Watkins, Montour boards approve plant

WATKINS GLEN, MONTOUR FALLS--The Watkins Glen village board voted unanimously to approve proceeding with the proposed regional wastewater treatment plant during their board meeting Tuesday, Jan. 20. The Montour Falls village board also followed suit by approving the same measure at their Thursday, Jan. 22 meeting. However, Montour Falls Clerk Alyssa Hammond explained the agreement is dependent on whether a petition is submitted forcing a public vote on the project. She explained if village residents want to vote, they would have until Feb. 23 to submit a petition to the board with signatures from at least 20 percent of registered Montour Falls voters. Such a vote could overturn the village board's decision.
The boards approved moving forward with several engineering and design services for the $24.7 million plant intended to service the villages of Watkins Glen and Montour Falls. The plant will be replacing two 50-year-old wastewater treatment plants at both villages and will also include constructing pumping stations at each village to pump to the new plant.
Montour Falls passed a bond resolution not to exceed $7,181,571 on construction of the plant. An existing agreement with Barton and Loguidice was amended from just planning a wastewater treatment plant to now also constructing the facility. The Montour Falls board approved an agreement with Municipal Solutions to aid the village with grant and finance applications.
Hammond said the village will wait and see if a petition is presented to the board. She added in the meantime the village will submit a grant application in early February.
Watkins Glen Trustee Scott Gibson said this involves all the work that gets the village to the point of constructing the plant, adding this is "a pretty darn exciting time" for the village, which had been working toward this goal for the past three years. He said the village had to go through several iterations for the site selection process and addressed environmental issues that were also brought up through this work. Gibson said the new plant will have significant upgrades over the existing plants that "can get it pretty close to drinking water standards."
"It has taken literally decades to get to this point," Gibson said. "We are really trying to progress our community forward."
Gibson added getting the current plant off the waterfront it "imperative." He said since its construction, the use of the village waterfront has changed.
"Even rebuilding that plant in the existing location would be poor planning," Gibson said.
Mayor Mark Swinnerton said the current plant is under a consent order for the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), adding this plant is the best option for both villages and will have an immediate positive impact on the environment.
"Doing nothing is not an option," Swinnerton said.
In other business:
Watkins Glen
• The board accepted a bid for new security cameras in and outside of the village office building. Clerk Donna Beardsley said there will be 11 cameras inside the building and two outside overlooking Franklin Street that can be remotely accessed by the public. The cameras will come at a cost not to exceed $16,000.
• Swinnerton said the village needs to begin talking about signage, adding some signs not acceptable under zoning code have been in the village for decades.
"I personally feel the signs are getting a little bit out of control," Swinnerton said.
Montour Falls
• The board approved Relay for Life to use the carnival grounds April 25 for its Paint the Town Purple fundraiser event. The Schuyler County Office for the Aging was also allowed to use the grounds for a picnic, Aug. 20.
• Southern Tier Central Regional Planning and Development Board received a $300,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency, which will in part cover developing a new comprehensive plan for Montour Falls.
• The board approved a lease with Verizon Wireless to build a cell tower off North L'Hommedieu Street within the village. Hammond said Verizon will pay the village $13,800 a year through the lease.
The next regular Montour Falls village board is Thursday, Feb. 5, at 7 p.m.