Residents in Whispering Oaks can rest easy.
The development, which has struggled with a failing sewer system for more than a decade and was recently fined by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for raw sewage draining into the Seneca River, has received a New York State Water Quality Improvement Program grant totaling $1.24 million. The grant will help cover the cost of connecting the Whispering Oaks Sewer District to the West Genesee Sewer District including the installation of a six-inch, 9,700-foot force main running along Route 370 from the Whispering Oaks development to the southern end of Dexter Parkway. Without the grant, residents of the development would have been responsible for the entire cost of the project.
Project details include improvements to the existing pump station including the installation of new duplex submersible pumps with control panel and backboard, installation of a chlorine feed system, associated building, and emergency generator, demolition of existing pumps, bases and controls, removal of the existing absorption bed system and site reclamation. The estimated cost of the project is $1.21 million.
While a four-inch force main would have been sufficient for the Whispering Oaks Sewer District, town officials chose to upgrade to a six-inch main to enable future developments to connect, and ultimately share the cost of the district.
A public hearing regarding the Whispering Oaks Sewer District improvements will be held at 7:01 p.m. Thursday (Nov. 18) at the Lysander Town Hall, 8220 Loop Road in Radisson. Residents are encouraged to attend the meeting and speak either in favor or against the proposed project.
