By Mark Reynolds
Engineer Ray Jurkowski, of CPL, recently compiled a water feasibility report on the proposed Falcon Ridge subdivision project for the Lloyd Town Board to review.
The developer’s representative said his client is looking to establish a Conservation Subdivision that will set aside nearly 300 acres of his 520 acre parcel and on the remaining acreage wants to build 211 high end 2,500 sq/ft homes, each on just over ¼ acre lots, however the entire parcel is currently zoned Residential 1 acre. In addition, the town code, in chapter 100-34 A (6) states that a Conservation Subdivision must, “provide for a balanced range of lot sizes, building densities, and housing choices to accommodate a variety of age and income groups and residential preferences, so that the Town of Lloyd’s population diversity may be maintained.”
Just how these issues will be addressed is unclear at this time.
Jurkowski reminded the board that Falcon Ridge has asked if they could tie into the town’s water and sewer systems to serve their project. He said the number of proposed homes would need to be supplied with 92,840 gallons per day; “pretty significant in and of itself.”
Jurkowski said the feasibility report, “looked at the specifics of the infrastructure itself, so the piping and any pumps that are downstream. On the water side for this particular project, that area is fed by a pump station located just off of Rte. 9W and that feeds that entire area of Upper North Road.”
Jurkowski said because the terrain of the proposed subdivision is at a higher elevation, the existing pump station would not be able to directly feed that area. Instead, a second pump station would have to be installed on the site of the subdivision, “to provide enough pressure to get over that first ridge.” He noted that the developer would bear the cost of this station but once built to town specifications, it would then be turned over to the town to maintain it.
Jurkowski said when there are private systems on development sites they often do not get properly maintained and get run into the ground with developers often walking away.
“So dealing with it upfront and identifying that it has to be built to certain specifications, the developer knows rough dollar figures so he can budget accordingly but then at the end of the day when it does get built, is inspected and turned over to the town, they have a decent product,” he said.
Jurkowski said the Water and Sewer Committee and a fire department representative met and discussed the required fire flow that is needed at the site. He said initially they discussed installing multiple step pumps but they decided that a water storage tank and pump station would be preferable, similar to what was required at the Hudson Hills subdivision site. Jurkowski estimated that the cost of a pump facility and tank is approximately $2 million, which would be borne by the developer.
Jurkowski said the Water and Sewer Committee did not recommend that the developer build his own wastewater system.
“If the infrastructure is built as a private system the likelihood of long-term maintenance is questionable and ultimately you’ll have a large number of residents knocking on the Town Hall door wanting the town to take over something that may be substandard, if you will, as far as town specifications,” he said. Jurkowski said he looked at two options on how to get the wastewater into the town infrastructure system. The first option would be to tie into the pump station located at the All Sport facility, which is the northerly extent of the town’s sewer district. To get to that Route 9W location, Jurkowski said he is concerned about the condition of the existing infrastructure that is presently there along North Road and within the hamlet area of Highland.
“All that wastewater would actually have to come down North Road, through the hamlet area before it then goes down to the sewer plant,” he said.
Jurkowski said the town has previously used a slip-lining technique inside of old clay tile 8 inch piping.
“First they televise and then clean out any protruding laterals that may have been installed in the past,” he said. “They then take a liner and drag it through the existing sewer line and heat it up to inflate it that retains its structural integrity once it cools down.” He said this reduces the overall dimension of the pipe but from a hydraulic perspective, “you are actually increasing its capacity because it doesn’t have the joints and it’s a smoother surface.” He added that this technique could increase the life expectancy of the pipes by 50 to 60 years, “if not longer.” He noted that because of the impact of the Falcon Ridge project, they would be responsible for making these improvements all along North Road, nearly to Main St, at a cost of $2.2 million, which Jurkowski included in his calculations.
Jurkowski highlighted a second option that is preferable to the Water and Sewer Committee and is being recommended to the Town Board. This would have the route come down Upper North Road and over to Lumen Lane. It would then cross lots to get down to the VFW Hall on Grand St., where it would tie into an existing sewer manhole that is located just on the south side of the little league ball field. This would cost $3.6 million.
“That provides the discharge point to be closer to the sewer plant [and] we’re bypassing the hamlet/North Road area but we’re potentially opening up the entire easterly side of Route 9W for future development as well. In that area it’s been identified as a light industrial zone, so there is a potential for job growth and so forth,” he said.
Jurkowski said this is the more expensive option for the developer, “because of the pipe runs that need to be done. He would not need to deal with the slip lining but it’s a more expensive and longer route as far as the routing of the piping itself.”
Jurkowski said the Water and Sewer Committee also liked option 2 because by routing the piping down through Lumen Lane and over to Grand St., “we’re avoiding the hamlet area and any restrictions in there and we’re allowing for the potential of future growth to the south and not taking up capacity of those pipes within the hamlet.” He pointed out, however, that this does not get North Road ‘out of the woods’ because the town would still have to fund slip lining here at some point in the future as part of the upkeep of the district in this area.
Jurkowski said there may be grants available to improve and/or replace old piping systems. He said it is a competitive process not only for the slip lining but for overall infrastructure improvements. He has already submitted a grant application to the Environmental Facilities Corporation [EFC] for the water treatment plant. He said other grants are available for water and sewer lines, but the EFC, the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Department of Health, “are looking at direct water quality issues to fund those projects first before funding other infrastructure projects. We could get on the list but we’re just not towards the top of the list.”