The proposal to create a new water district in and around the Seven Pines neighborhood no longer qualifies for Cazenovia town board consideration after a number previous proposal advocates withdrew their support, Supervisor Bill Zupan announced at the board’s July 13 regular monthly meeting.
Such a proposal needs signatures from more than 50 percent of the affected residents to receive board consideration, which it had, but the withdrawal of support by some residents reduced the number below the 50 percent mark and made it technically insufficient for further consideration, Zupan said.
Seven Pines resident Bob Greiner, who circulated the petition asking his neighbors to support the idea, thanked the board for its consideration of the issue, and said he withdrew the petition because the proposal needed further study, after which he would try again.
“It’s just not right yet,” Greiner said during the meeting. “The investment [the board] made, don’t throw it away; I’ll be back.”
The proposal would have brought village water to a total of 28 properties off East Lake Road north of Lakeside Park, where residents now have only wells. It would also have included the installation of fire hydrants in the neighborhood and affected houses would then be able to receive fire protection services.
According to Town Engineer John Dunkle, in order to bring village water to Seven Pines, the town would have to extend pipes from the end of the current water line (on East Lake Road in front of Lakeside Park), down East Lake Road and then over into Seven Pines. Residents who choose to hook their properties into the water line would have to pay for the hookup from their land to the new pipes in the street.
The project would have cost a total of $275,000, which the town would bond for over a 30-year period. There would be an $18,000 mortgage cost per year, which all affected residents within the new district would have to pay on a scale based upon the assessment value of their property.
Under town law, residents of the district will not be forced to hook into the new water line of they do not want to, but they still must contribute to the annual bond payments whether they use the water service or not. The median cost to each landowner is estimated to be about $1,000 per year, Dunkle said. That does not include the cost of actually hooking a property into the water line.
At the board’s June meeting, a 75-minute public hearing was held on the issue, during which proponents and opponents of the proposal voiced their opinions with advocates calling it a “no-brainer” that would benefit their lives and their property values, and opponents saying it was unfair to make neighbors who do not want or will not use public water to help pay off the project cost, that their well systems work just fine and that payments based on assessment value instead of a basic unit cost for property owners was not right.
Also at the meeting, the board:
—Introduced a local law to amend the town code to make referrals from the town zoning board of appeals to the planning board discretionary rather than mandatory. The board scheduled a public hearing on the proposed law for 7:30p.m. Monday, Aug. 10, at the town office.
—Authorized the payment of not more than $2,000 to Cazenovia College for its services regarding to Cazenovia Lake management, specifically the collection of phosphorous study samples. Such collection was previously done by professors, students and interns from SUNY Oneonta, but will now be done by professors, students and interns from Cazenovia College.
—Authorized the payment of not more than $1,500 to SUNY Oneonta for its services regarding to Cazenovia Lake management, specifically the collection of phosphorous study samples.
—Authorized the expenditure of $18,000 to Holmes, King, Kallquist and Associates, Architects, LLP, for the company’s work in analyzing the structural and other needs of the town office (the Gothic Cottage) for building renovations. The authorization allows the town supervisor to execute a proposal for services to put the renovation project out to bid.
Councilor Liz Moran, who is spearheading the board’s town hall task force, said the approval does not mean the board has made any decisions about whether to keep the town offices in the Gothic Cottage or to move to another location, which is still under review. Rather, the project is for work necessary to maintain the structural integrity of the building.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
