GUILDERLAND — On Aug. 15, the town board here approved applying for funds to filter water for its currently unused wells “to improve reliability and protect public health.”

The grant from the state’s Water Infrastructure Improvement Act may fund up to $3 million or 60 percent of the $6.6 million project.

If Guilderland gets the grant, the town would contribute $2.5 million to the project, said the resolution, which the board passed unanimously.

The filtration system is needed to treat a high concentration of manganese and iron in the wells that were historically a major source of water for residents; now the Watervliet Reservoir is the town’s major source of drinking water.

The grant would go towards a greensand filtration system, backwash equipment and connection to the sewer system, an emergency generator, yard piping, connection to the water main, and pump and control  improvements as well as site work on the town-owned land along State Route 155.

“We’re hoping to recover 60 percent of the costs associated with restoring the wells that have been largely dormant for quite some time,” said Supervisor Peter Barber. “So that we can actually have water produced within our town on town property.”

He said a letter of support was obtained from the city of Albany “because we have a municipal agreement to provide water back and forth in the event of emergency.”

If the grant is received, Barber said, it is a “really good deal for the town.”

The town’s portion of the payment, to cover the balance of the project, Barber said, would come from “the reserve funds that the water department has on hand.”

History

In the fall of 2021, Mary Beth Bianconi with Delaware Engineering explained that the town has three wells. One is used in the summertime when water use peaks in town; the other two wells are unused because they have high levels of iron and manganese.

The wells are located at the town’s Department of Public Works site on State Farm Road and the filtering project would disturb less than one acre of land, she said.

At times in the summer, during peak draw, Bianconi said, the town uses more water from that single well than the half-million-gallon cap set by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.

The grant, she said, would build a filtration system to give the town another source of water besides the Watervliet Reservoir, adding to its resilience.

“The reservoir’s water quality is typically degraded each summer by algae blooms and aquatic weed growth,” the grant application said.

The application also noted that, in 2018, the town detected disinfectant byproducts in the water system that exceeded the maximum contaminant level set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state’s Department of Health.

Additionally, the application noted that 27,000 Guilderland residents use town water and stated, “The Town’s 2018 Water Supply Capacity Evaluation indicates that there would be significant savings to water users in Town as a result of using its own supply water rather than relying on purchased surface water.” Guilderland currently purchases water from Albany and Rotterdam when needed.

“It’s a packed bed filter,” said Bianconi, explaining to the board in 2021 that the greensand in the unit binds with the iron and manganese to remove it from the water. The sand has to be replaced once it can’t absorb anymore.

“That’s a cost, but the benefit is the wells become useful and the quality [of water] is better,” she said, explaining that groundwater sources are generally less expensive than surface water sources like the reservoir and they are also more stable.

Guilderland, she said, has a lot of users — over 27,000 people in 10,000 households sharing the costs. Her firm works with other communities that have just 200 users on a system so their individual rates are much higher.

Rustic Barn

John Haluska praised the town for paving Lone Pine Road where he lives; updated the board on the town’s historic markers that he regularly paints; and shared his continuing concerns about the Rustic Barn, an abandoned and crumbling building on Route 20.

“We’ve got a safety issue here,” Haluska told the board on Aug. 15. He referenced “the interest of the abutter,” which is Ryan Caruso, whose property borders the blighted Rustic Barn property; Caruso has long wanted to purchase the site.

Barber responded that the town will be condemning the building but needs the Albany County engineer to sign off on it.

“Whatever costs are associated with that then will be attached to the property as a tax,” said Barber.

He explained that the county legislature had passed a law several years ago “that basically stopped communities from tearing down dilapidated buildings, then incurring a cost to remove them, and then sticking the county with the bill.”

Barber said he was confident the county’s engineer would agree the building should be demolished.

Haluska asked about “deconstructing” the barn — part of which is thought to have been built in the 1700s — rather than demolishing it. “Deconstructing it, board by board, so that those boards, which many of them are usable …” said Haluska.

“If they are going to be condemning a building,” said Barber, “they’re not going to allow anybody inside the building to harvest and to remove those materials.”

The abandoned property contains a one-story house with a slate roof, dating from about 1860, and the barn itself, which is older, as well as a two-story addition that seems to be from the 1920s; all of those buildings are connected to one another, with the 1920s section linking the original house to the barn. There are also several outbuildings in disrepair.

Barber went on to warn Haluska, “Now, if you plan on trespassing on that property … don’t let me know about it.”

“All right, because I’ve done that before,” said Haluska.

“It’s a safety concern,” said Barber. “You and I were in that second story several years ago and, even then, I think you came close to putting a foot through … I don’t want to read about you in the newspaper.”

Other business

In other business at the Guilderland Town Board’s Aug. 15 meeting, the board:

— Approved releasing $5,501.76 in escrow funds to Rosetti Companies for paving Winding Brook Drive after four town officials signed off on all contractual obligations being met: Town Planner Ken Kovalchik, Chief Building Inspector Jackie Coons, Highway Superintendent Greg Wier, and Water and Wastewater Superintendent Bill Bremigen.

“It’s not our money,” said Barber, noting the funds that came from Rosetti are being returned “because the project has been fulfilled to their satisfaction”;

— Heard from Gerd Beckmann, who with his wife owns and runs the Appel Inn outside of Guilderland Center, concerns about “an invasive species that’s rapidly moving across New York state”: the elm zigzag sawfly (Aproceros leucopoda), identified by the zigzag pattern it eats into elm leaves.

It was first detected in the state last year in St. Lawrence County, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. Beckmann said he had elm trees on his property.

“It’s just another impetus, an unfortunate impetus, for the need for a town arborist,” said Beckmann. “I think there could be some significant benefits to educating people”;

— Also heard from Beckmann about his concerns over the rail crossing by 84 Lumber on Route 20. On Aug. 4, he said, 17 empty rail cars “that had just come out of Scotia derailed.” He called the trestles at the the crossing by 84 Lumber “a sword of Damocles”; and

— Heard from Barber that the town pool at Tawasentha Park will be open until Sept. 3.