WESTFIELD - When David Spann was running for a seat on the Town of Westfield Board, he heard many comments and ideas about how to improve the municipality. On the top of most people's lists, were improvements to the infrastructure in Barcelona.
"The people down there I've talked to are ready to see something," Spann said.
Now, Spann and other town officials are getting the chance to work on just that enhancing the lakeside hamlet.
At a special meeting Monday, members of the town board met to review what the town has done to obtain water funding for Barcelona and East Lake Road (Route 5).
Board members reviewed and were updated on current and past water and sewer projects, as well the formation of a town-wide water district and obtaining engineering studies which are necessary to apply for funding.
"We're looking at different strategies on what we might apply moving forward," said Town of Westfield Supervisor Martha Bills, adding Barcelona residents have asked the town to look at sewer issues.
However, Mrs. Bills said the town must make try to work on the issue in a way which is affordable to residents.
"We have to make up our minds about what makes sense, what they are looking for," she said. "People need to know what they are going to pay before they decide."
In an effort to help fund such improvements to Barcelona, the board heard from attorney Mike Bolander on possible grants for such a project. Bolander suggested that, instead of utilizing a Community Development Block Grant for a project, the town should try to partner with three-to-four funding agencies to make such a move viable.
"You are not going to get the whole funding package from any one entity. All the entities, all the agencies, see financial burden in a unified sense," Bolander said. "This project could go very quickly. If it's funded this year, we can start building next year."
Bolander said a survey of homes in Barcelona, showing household income and other demographics, would have to be completed and sent to various funding agencies.
"Given the size, we have to have them (surveys) all back," he said. "There's no question. We go nowhere with that program unless we have the demographics to prove it. It is the absolute litmus test."
If a survey is sent out, Barcelona residents would also be asked to indicate any problems from no water pressure to no water at all that they are experiencing, Bolander said.
"Our job is to convince the reviewers that this project has to be done," he said. "We need our residents down there to give us the awful facts of life. We need to know if bad things are happening. We need to know in graphic detail how this impacts their life."
If town officials decided to move forward with a water project, tentative plans call for first working in the core area of Barcelona around Front Street and the hamlet's businesses as well as up to around the K.O.A. campground and Ottaway Park.
"That's really where your crying need for a puddle of water is," Bolander said. "The core of Barcelona we expect to do in one year."
Other parts of Barcelona would be worked on in the future.
"The project, at the end of the day, will be ready to move forward as much as you folks want it to," Bolander said. "It's going to all be infrastructure, but its not just infrastructure serving residential and business. It will serve recreation and advancement."
Board members asked Bolander what residents' water bills would look like if such a project is completed.
"It will bump some people up," Bolander said.
"If they have good water, I think it's worth it," board member Jim Herbert added.
However, Mrs. Bills again stressed the importance of making sure such a project, if the board decides to move forward with it, is financially feasible and won't negatively impact the area's taxpayers.
"It has to be something affordable," she said. "We could not put a burden on the people living there."
