Board approves agreement for loan to fix water issues
"We're fixing it"
Residents on six streets in Fredonia who’ve long dealt with discolored water issues will see it taken care of by the end of the year, according to Mayor Athanasia Landis.
On Monday, the Fredonia Village Board approved for the mayor to sign an emergency financial assistance agreement with the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation for a zero percent loan totaling a little over $1.4 million. A state of emergency declaration was made by the mayor in November in order to obtain the funding to make the necessary repairs. The move was made per the recommendation of the state Health Department.
Funds will be utilized to replace approximately 9,600-linear feet of existing 4-inch and 6-inch unlined cast-iron pipe. Areas that will see work include Carol, Pleasant and Lambert avenues, James Place, Middlesex Drive and Main Street.
“We got that emergency loan and we already have gone to award the construction to a specific company, so if everything goes the way we’re thinking, everything will be replaced (by) the beginning to end of December of this year,” Landis said.
While the loan will solve the discolored water issue, Landis said the village will need to pay it back. Landis said she’s hoping to apply for a grant through the Clean Water Act to cover all or some of the loan. Landis acknowledged that the water problem has gone on for 15 years. When she took office in 2016, she said she received a petition from residents, which was drawn up in 2008, regarding the issue. In December 2016, the village board approved an agreement with O’Brien and Gere to perform a study and investigate the water quality issue.
The village’s distribution system consists of approximately 300,000-linear feet of pipe with pipe sizes 2 to 12 inches in diameter and ages ranging from 35- to 126-years-old. Complaints have increased in recent years, particularly in areas with aging, pre-1970s, unlined cast iron pipe located just east of SUNY Fredonia.
“We’re fixing it,” she said.
Landis said surveys are almost complete. Construction should begin sometime this summer.
Landis acknowledged the work of former County Executive Vince Horrigan and state Sen. Cathy Young for their assistance last year in finding a way to initiate the project.
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