Newburgh City Council approved the change order with Tam Enterprises for their work at Downing Pond and Third St. to include additional lead line service replacement at the cost of $117,000. The funding will be from the American Rescue Plan Act [ARPA] funds that are currently dedicated for lead service line replacement in the city.

According to City of Newburgh Engineer Jason Morris, several lead service lines need to be replaced.

“We want to replace the lead service lines that the water department was able to locate along that corridor so we don’t have to go back in later and replace those lead lines after we repave that street.”

The project is under construction and additional paving from the Route 9W to Johnston St. along the Third Street corridor is to be included in this project, according to Morris.

Councilwoman Patty Sofokles asked Morris about draining the Polly due to current wildlife present there. “How low are they going to go with the water?” asked Sofokles.

According to Morris, the contractor, to the best of their ability, is going to drain the pond to the specific levels that they need to operate in but the containment and relocation of present fish species poses a challenge. This is mainly present due to a present aquatic disease across New York State.

“What is in the pond needs to stay and some of those fish may be impacted during the draining of the pond. We have plans in place to deal with that if it becomes an issue,” said Morris.