Photo provided.
MOREAU — The town of Moreau plans on moving forward with the $16 million sewer expansion.
The map, plan and report were prepared by the Laberge Group showing boundaries of the proposed extension, the project justifications and the cost estimates, according to meeting minutes. The Laberge Group is the approved engineering company in charge of the project. The planned sewer extension will be at the commercial corridor of County Route 9 and consists of 553 acres. Moreau Town Supervisor, Todd Kusnierz hopes that the sewer line will encourage economic development in the area.
According to Kusnierz the town on of Moreau is next on the list of towns that are rapidly growing in the area, but there was some pushback from town residents. He also stated that the longer they put off the expansion, the more it will cost and added that the board had worked diligently with the engineering firm to address most of the issues that were raised, according to meeting minutes.
“One of the greatest concerns that was highlighted during the public hearing was that landowners would be forced to sell their homes because they would not be able to afford the annual cost of the sewer infrastructure in some cases,” stated in a town meeting on May 22.
“This board does not want to force anybody out of their home because they can’t afford to stay here.SoIamgoingtosuggest,with feedback from the board, we’ll be able to come to a conclusion on how best to move forward; That wepulltheresidentialclassesout ofthemap,planandreport,and ask the engineers to update the map plan and report, provide it back to the board for review, and schedule another public hearing,” the board member went on to say.
The Method of financing the cost of the expansion consists of the issuance of $12 million in serial bonds from the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC), maturing in annual installments over a period not exceeding 30 years and grant funding through the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act grant program in the amount of $4 million, totaling $16 Million, according to meeting minutes.
Marissa Gonzalez was a contributing writer to this story.