NEW SCOTLAND — About 40 people attended a public hearing on consolidating the Clarksville and North Road water districts last Wednesday at the Onesquethaw firehouse.

While the legal reason for this month’s meeting was to discuss consolidating the two districts into one — so that North Road residents will pay their share of infrastructure cost — residents had many other questions. They asked about the needed maintenance, upgrades, and proposed extensions.
For a water tank to only last 12 years is "appalling," said Clarksville resident Russell Shaver, stating other tanks last 20 to 30 years. He wanted to know: Had the town not maintained the tank properly over the years or was it constructed poorly to begin with"
"We need to find out the root of the problem," he said, suggesting "legal recourse," if the tank were poorly constructed.
The water committee chairman and town engineer, R. Mark Dempf, said, "Maybe there is."

A number of Clarksville residents remember the problems they had with the construction company when the original water district was built in the late 1980’s.
Last time around, Shaver said, "It was horrible." He would like to see more quality control from Town Hall with this project, he said.
"The first district was slipshod," he said as murmurs of agreement came from the rest of the audience. "It was a fiasco," he said.

People asked how long the new second tank will last before they have to attend another meeting.

Dempf said another 15 years.

One of the reasons Feura Bush’s tank has lasted a little longer than Clarksville’s is because the water quality is different, Councilman Scott Houghtaling said. Clarksville’s water is harder, for example.

Dempf referred to a handout that charted six various projects with differing costs. He said the town has to pick one of the options, and the idea is to include as many new users as possible, which will help pay for the overall project.

For example, to just make the needed improvements — replacing the tank, upgrading the booster pump, and repairing the well house — the project will cost $446,000, meaning an average annual user cost of $661.

However, if the town makes those improvement plus allows the 43 residents with direct access to the existing mains and extends the district to the lower half of Upper Flat Rock Road and a few people along Route 32, the overall project would cost $702,000, but individual user cost would be only $632.

The town board is considering 20-, 25- and 30-year bonds and refinancing the debt.

Resident Susan Dee said that taking out a 20-year bond for maintenance scares her.
"That’s a very bad thing," she said; bonding on capital improvement projects is okay, but to bond on maintenance is a very bad idea.
It’s always cheaper to do maintenance along the way, she said. "As a responsible citizen...I would rather pay to expand the life of the equipment," Dee said.
Supervisor Ed Clark responded, "I agree, that’s not what we should do." The current town board cannot explain or speak on what has happened in the past with other elected officials, he said, concluding, "I do not believe we advocate for that anymore," Clark said.

The current board has discussed setting a higher water rate to set aside a reserve fund, to pay for regular maintenance; currently there is no reserve.

Houghtaling said that, while the extension of the district is the long-term goal of the town, it is realistically two or three years out.

Consolidation

But this year, Houghtaling said, the board needs to decide on consolidation.

The town wants the consolidation to go into effect Jan. 1.

Houghtaling said that consolidating the two districts will raise the rate for those currently in the North Road district and lower the rate for those in the Clarksville District. North Road users will start paying into the current infrastructure cost, including sharing the debt.

When the North Road Water District was formed in 1995, the town received a grant because of pollutants and contamination in the groundwater. One of the conditions of the funding was that North Road would, after three years, have to be consolidated with Clarksville — it’s past due, Dempf said.

Houghtaling said, with the grant, Clarksville residents did benefit at the time as well, because an additional well was drilled on Winnie Lane for backup.

North Road benefits

But, for a number of years now, users in the North Road District have been getting their water through Clarksville pipes and not helping to pay for the upkeep of those pipes and the wells.

One resident from the North Road Water District was among the three dozen attending last week’s public hearing — Larry Baumgartner.

At a Sept. 29 informational meeting, only one couple from North Road attended — the Wellers.

Houghtaling said that it was a problem for the town board that more North Road Water District residents are not taking an interest in the meetings and becoming informed about the project.
"I don’t want to pay any more than I have to...but if we’re using the water and facilities then we should pay for them," Baumgartner said.

Houghtaling said that he was glad to hear that was his sentiment.

Town attorney Michael Mackey said that, if the town board resolves to consolidate, North Road residents could petition to put the consolidation to a vote to overturn the board’s decision.
Houghtaling stated that, if North Road residents petition and the result of the citizen vote prevents consolidation, the board has decided that "we would raise your water rate" so that one way or another North Road residents will have to start paying more.

Mike Mullen, of Lower Flat Rock Road, pressed the board to find out how he can make the proposed extensions happen as soon as possible. He said that the pipe is right in front of his house but he still doesn’t have public water.

The process takes years, Houghtaling said.

Clarksville residents were hesitant about last week’s meeting supporting extensions. They were concerned about the cost of extending pipe lines, their continual upkeep, and the yield capability of the well.

Dempf said that there is plenty of water in the wells; the difficulty is getting it out to people.