Creekside development back on the table

The Enterprise — Lisa Nicole Lindsay

Route 308 stretches past Miller Road in New Scotland. The end of Miller Road, which snakes around a farmhouse and up a hill, is the proposed location for a new subdivision, called Creekside.
 

The Enterprise — Lisa Nicole Lindsay

Looking down from the top of the hill on Miller Road, mailboxes of existing homes can be seen.
 

The Enterprise — Lisa Nicole Lindsay

A large pine tree stands next to where Miller Road would extend, ending in a cul-de-sac, if Creekside subdivision were approved. The subdivision is proposed to have 16 lots.
 

The Enterprise — Lisa Nicole Lindsay

Covering about 30 acres, Creekside subdivision would bring additional homes to New Scotland. This map, which is a few years old, shows a sewer treatment facility at the rear of the subdivision. Recently, the applicant has changed his plan, and wants to hook into the Heldervale water district for water and sewer instead.
 

NEW SCOTLAND — Means of getting water and disposing of sewage continue to plague a proposed Miller Road subdivision, which first came before the town in 2009.

Bruce Boswell, of Boswell Engineering, owns the land, and, according to a project narrative, would like to build a 16-lot subdivision starting at the terminus of Miller Road and ending in a cul-de-sac. The other end of Miller Road connects with New Scotland South Road, or Route 308.

Boswell has not returned calls over the last two weeks from The Enterprise.

The main issues presented at this month’s town board meeting on Aug. 13, and at previous meetings, were getting water and sewer to the property, which is about 30 acres.

Originally, the subdivision was going to have a leech field put on each of the lots for handling sewage. Later, the plan changed, and was set to have a treatment facility on-site, akin to Kensington Woods. Now, the project will try to tie into the town’s sewer services.

The plan for getting water to the property has changed many times as well.

Douglas LaGrange, town board member, told The Enterprise this month about different options that have been presented to the board for water access. One option involves cutting through a ravine; another, which fell through, suggested going through neighboring property. A third option would be to put new lines up Route 308.

Currently, Boswell’s plan appears to be going through the ravine with both water and sewer, which would tie into the Heldervale water district. The district is in New Scotland, but both water and sewer are sent to and from the neighboring town of Bethlehem for treatment in its facilities.

However, the aged infrastructure of the Heldervale water district could make adding additional taps a concern for Bethlehem. Replacing the lines would be a good way to fix this, LaGrange said.

“In my opinion, we need two lines for each service,” he said, “so future taxpayers don’t have to pay for the department of public works to get down there,” for repairs.

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