Petition process for Salt Springs water to begin

TOWN OF MANLIUS – The residents of the Sky Ridge water district have crossed the first hurdle in having improvements made to their aging water infrastructure.
Last week, the Manlius Town Board adopted a motion that allows the Sky Ridge water district to pursue improvements to their system in conjunction with a proposed new water district – the Salt Springs Water District – that would bring public water the length of Salt Springs Road from N. Eagle Village Road to Chittenango. The next step in the process is the formation of the Salt Springs Road district, which is anything but guaranteed. During the month of June, the town will gauge interest from Salt Springs Road residents using a petition process. To move forward, residents representing more than 51 percent of the assessed value in the proposed district would need to back the project.
The vote was after a lengthy public hearing spread over several weeks of meetings. While residents of the Sky Ridge district have been steadfast in their support of the proposal, many residents of Salt Springs Road have voiced opposition, stating they are being asked to subsidize the needed improvements in Sky Ridge for a public water system they neither want nor need. If approved, public water would cost each resident about $1,200 annually as well as a one-time hookup charge. For residents with long setbacks in the rocky area, that hookup could cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Councilor John Deer said it will be the people in the area – not the town board – that ultimately will make the decision.
“There will be a petition. There will be a conversation among the neighbors,” he said. “And we’re going to decide through a petition – a democratic process- whether or not the district is something that the people who live there currently desire.”
Local real estate developer Dave Muraco owns 71 acres within the proposed district and is in discussion to purchase an additional 140 acres. He spoke in favor of the proposal and said the public water could encourage additional residential development in the area.
“It will be very desirable once the water system is put in,” Muraco said. “I’m all on board in helping make it happen.”
Without public sewers in the area, the development of a large-scale subdivision is unlikely, said councilor Sara Bollinger. But the public water could attract additional single-family residential development similar to what is in that area already, she said.
Alexander Behm, executive director of Clear Path for Veterans, said the project would help the organization expand its programs for veterans and their families. Clear Path is “bursting at the seams,” he said, and the public water is necessary if they are to increase the amount of programming they offer.
Two weeks ago, there was an issue with one of the wells at Clear Path that forced the organization to shut down its operations for a day and a half. It’s not an uncommon occurrence, he said.
“Right now it’s becoming an issue to sustain just our normal operations with the 15,000 square foot facility we’re using the water for,” Behm said. Without the water, “we will be falling short to meet the needs of veterans and military members and those family members who come to our campus to receive our necessary programs and services.”
The total projected cost of the project is $9.2 million, much of which would be offset by grants. If the project gets the go ahead from area residents, grant applications would be filed later this year. Construction would likely begin in 2023 with an anticipated completion in 2024.