The Clifton Park Town Board tabled a motion Monday, Oct. 20, to move ahead with plans to provide Glenville sewer service to residents in Rexford on Olde Nott Farm, but officials say the issue will be revisited at the next board meeting.
Jack McDonald of John McDonald Engineering has provided the initial planning. The intermunicipal project would offer many Rexford (where private septic systems are the norm) and Nott Farm (served by a private wastewater treatment plant) residents the option of hooking up to Glenville sewers. McDonald said that connection with Glenville would provide users with a long-term solution to mounting costs.
This is a very positive set of circumstances for folks who currently have service that’s very expensive, he said.
According to McDonald’s figures, upgrading the treatment plant to bring it up to new DEC standards would cost around $400,000, plus debt service. Altogether, Nott Farm users would end up paying $1,255 per year with such upgrades, while connecting to Glenville would cost users $1,003 annually.
The treatment plant currently services 64 households in Nott Farm, the Edison Club, a Stewarts shop and Riverview Cancer Care.
In the Rexford area, McDonald said that poor soils and shallow bedrock makes septic systems impractical, and that a sewer system is needed.
`It’s not a question of if it will happen, but when it will happen,` said McDonald.
Altogether, 221 units would be able to take advantage of the extension, including Glencliff School. The plan currently calls for a force main on the east side of Route 146 discharging to a large gravity sewer on the west side, eventually running into Glenville.
By running the pipe down Riverview Road into Glenville, users in the Alplaus area would have the future option of hooking up, which is why the town is proposing to build excess capacity into the pipe at an estimated cost of $441,000. Hookup fees would offset the cost of the whole project.
`I know that if the town does not put in excess capacity now, we will lose that opportunity in the future,` said Town Supervisor Philip Barrett.
Since hookup fees would pay for the excess capacity, there’s no telling exactly when the town might get its money back. The town will also seek grants from the state to help offset the cost and thus bring down hookup fees.
Barrett isn’t worried about users rejecting the sewer, though.
`Based on the interest we’ve received I think we will have a good number of folks hooking up right away,` he said. `I think it’s really a fantastic project both financially and environmentally for that entire section of Rexford.“
