Cicero — The town of Cicero will get a little help in paying for some infrastructure improvements, thanks to Onondaga County.
County Legislator and former Town Councilor Tim Burtis attended the Cicero Town Board’s Feb. 10 meeting to announce that the county legislature is awarding the town a $225,000 grant to reduce infiltration and inflow in the town’s sanitary sewer system.
Burtis said the Onondaga County Legislature voted unanimously in December 2015 to approve the Suburban Green Improvement Program, which allocates $900,000 to towns within the Onondaga County Sanitary District. The grant money will be used to fund “innovative and green construction methods.”
“I was happy to co-sponsor this in December and I’m happy to be here and to bring money from the county back to my town,” Burtis said.
Infiltration and inflow, or I&I, occurs when clean water enters the sewer system via defective pipes, sump pumps and drains. This dilutes the wastewater and “overwhelms the capacity” of the Brewerton Wastewater Treatment Plant, Supervisor Mark Venesky explained.
Venesky said the town is in the “beginning stages” of revising its comprehensive plan, and the I&I grant will improve the town’s sewer system for future development.
“Business development is going to be crucial to the future of Cicero,” Venesky said.
The board voted to authorize the supervisor to sign a $35,000 agreement with O’Brien and Gere for a sanitary sewer improvement project in the Brewerton Wastewater Treatment Plant service area.
