HomeMy WebLinkAboutEngineer's Report 3/13/2002Vilfuge of Cntxgup heights
MARCHAM HALL
896 HANSHAW ROAD
Telephone
ITHACA, N.Y. 14850
607. 257.1238
Office Hours
ENGINEER'S REPORT
s A.M. - 4 P.M.
TO: BOARD OF TRUSTEES
FROM: Brent Cross, Village Engineer
DATE: March 13, 2002
RE: Phosphorus Filtration Project
REPORT: On 3/8/02, Trustee Lynn and I traveled to the NYSDEC Headquarters in Albany to seek
clarification from the Director of Water Resources Division about the status of Bond Act funding
for various projects. (Also participating in the meeting were Jerry Hook and Nick Hatala of
Steams & Wheler.) We were given the following information:
The Village's trickling filter project has been approved for technical review and has been
recommended to the NYSDEC Headquarters to issue a contract to the Village to fund this
project. The DEC personnel stated that this was definitely going to happen, and we could
expect a contract in the near future (maybe within the next month). This project would not
be held up for completion of the Intermunicipal Sewer Agreement. Upon execution of the
NYSDEC contract, we will need to authorize Steams & Wheler to proceed with the
preparation of plans and specifications to go out to contractors for bid.
2. The NYSDEC staff encouraged us to advance the engineering study phase of the
phosphorous filtration project because they were concerned that the Village was not really
interested in the success of the Intermunicipal Sewer Project. Trustee Lynn and I reassured
them that there was not a lack of interest on the part of the Village, but a concern that the
Village would be left to finance the entire local share of the project if the Intermunicipal
Sewer Agreement was not realized. At that point, the NYSDEC staff explained that within
the next week, the EPA would be officially adding the southern end of Cayuga Lake to the
list of impaired waters that will require the NYSDEC to reassess the discharge limits of the
current SPDES Permit holders. This means that the Village WWTP will probably need to do
a phosphorous filtration project even if the Intermunicipal Agreement is not realized.
Therefore, it is in the Village's best interest to continue the process of seeking the Bond Act
funding that would pay for 85% of the construction cost, whether the Village pays for the
entire local share or the Intermunicipal Sewer Consortium covers the local share.
3. The Village will need to initiate the State Environmental Quality Review process to be
eligible for the Bond Act funding for the phosphorous project. This SEQR process will
require the Village to declare itself the Lead Agency and prepare the necessary documents
for inspection by other Interested Agencies.
At the February meeting the Trustees authorized the signing of the contract with Stearns &
Wheler with the condition that they guarantee the report for 3 -5 years. Based on the above
information, I recommend that the Trustees authorize the Mayor to send a letter to Steams &
Wheler to remove the 3 -5 year condition. This resulting engineering study would be submitted
to the NYSDEC as a basis for a contract for Environmental Bond Act Funding. As part of our
contract with Steams & Wheler they will produce the SEQRA documents that would be required
to initiate and complete the SEQR process.
file: winword1pw031202.doc