Cassadaga and Lily Dale to cooperate on water system program
By ALPHA HUSTEDCASSADAGA - The village of Cassadaga and Lily Dale Assembly are diving into plans for a cooperative water system program that would benefit both communities.
The decision was reached Monday night at a workshop hosted by the village and attended by local and assembly officials, and Gregory McCorkhill, an engineer from Stearns and Wheler, Cassadaga's engineering firm. In addition, the assembly's engineer, Matt Marko of CH2M Hill, participated in discussions through a telephone conference connection.
It was agreed during the session that core groups, or committees representing each community, would be organized to tackle the planning effort, with the first session to be scheduled in December.
''I think the village and Lily Dale share a lot of common ground on this issue ... Both appear willing and interested in coming up with a (water system) plan that would benefit both municipalities,'' McCorkhill said.
A 350-foot water well, drilled in Lily Dale earlier this year, is a well that taps a ''robust'' gravel aquifer, according to Marko. The well, originally planned as a test well, has only a five-inch circumference, and produces about 120 gallons per minute, or in excess of 170,000 gallons per day, a figure that would more than meet peak demands of Lily Dale.
With a larger pump, Marko said, the well could produce from 200 to 250 gallons per minute, and a well of larger circumference, which could be drilled in the future on the same site, could produce an ever higher rate of water. However, Lily Dale has no intentions to sever its current connections to village water.
Nor does Cassadaga want to lose its water customer, whose water bill for 2007 was about $60,000, a sizeable bit of income for the village.
For years, Lily Dale has purchased its water from Cassadaga. Confronted with rate increases and the fact the village was having difficulty finding a new source of water, the assembly decided to launch its own water exploration project. On the other hand, the village of Cassadaga has two wells, both shallow, and neither meet the state's sanitary code, McCorkill said. However, he added, the state is permitting Cassadaga to use the wells as a backup source of water after the village drills a new well on a site near the Cassadaga Elementary School, a tract that has been acquired by the village.
''A test well indicates the well will produce the amount required, or 400 gallons per minute,'' McCorkill said.
The well is part of a proposed $5 million water system improvement plan including new water mains - one of which will be completed on Putnam Road by the end of this year - and, a new 300,000 gallon water storage tank.
It's possible, McCorkill said, that the Lily Dale well could be integrated into the village system, providing an acceptable source of backup water. Even though the state is now permitting the village to use its old wells, the engineer said, ''that will almost certainly not be the case in the time to come.''
McCorkill said a recent village survey of water customers in Cassadaga and Lily Dale indicates a median household income level of $40,700, somewhat less than the $41,000 poverty income level listed by World Development, a financial agency that funds many major municipal loans. The median income level, McCorkill said, is a favorable factor in the village's effort to obtain funding.
The village water project had been given a preliminary greenlight by Federal Rural Development, an agency of the U.S. Agriculture Department, McCorkill said, noting that approval is subject to the approval of a full application, a document that must be submitted by the village to the USDA on or before Dec. 31.
There are a number of alternatives and many details that must be resolved in coming up with a cooperative Cassadaga/Lily Dale water system program, McCorkill said, noting he and Marko would provide guidance to the core planning groups.
Among those attending the Monday night session were: Cassadaga board member Rodney Waite, representing Mayor Mary Jo Carlson-Bauer, who was unable to attend the session, Raymond Haines, and Roxanne Astry, village clerk. Lily Dale officials included Sue Glasier, executive director; Lynne Wiltsie, assembly president; and board members Keith Burridge, James Barnum, Dennis Lunger, Cara Seekings and Connie Dutcher.
