The Board of Trustees approved resolutions Tuesday night (May 8) awarding $1.8 million in contracts to four lower bidders to make upgrades and repairs this year to the sewer systems in the village and in the town’s Castle Cliffs Sewer District.

The improvements will meet terms of a consent decree issued by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation mandating the capital improvements to reduce the infiltration of ground water into the village sewer collection system.

“These upgrades should decrease the impact of water flow during high rain events like we had this week,” said Trustee and Deputy Mayor John Basile. “Very high flow can really upset the operation of our waste water treatment plant,” which was constructed in the early 1990s.

The sewer project went out to bid on March 27. Bids were opened on April 26, reviewed by the village’s Project Manager from Delaware Engineering, and approved by the Village Board at a special meeting on May 8. The contracts came in lower than expected, Basile said.

The project will involve replacing older sewer pipeline where needed village-wide and at Castle Cliffs, repairing older pipes with an epoxy-coated liner, replacing and rehabilitating various manholes, and making upgrades to some of the village’s eight pump stations, including installing backup pumps in some locations.

The Castle Cliffs treatment plant was abandoned and the collection system connected to the Village of Stillwater sewer system in 1995. A 1996 agreement between the town and village provides that the village operate and maintain the Castle Cliffs collection system, the cost of which is funded by user rates paid by the 82 or residents there.

The sewer project will be financed through a 30-year, 0 percent interest “hardship” loan obtained by the village from the New York State Environmental Facilities Corp. The work is expected to begin this summer, perhaps in early July, and be completed before the winter.

The following contracts were awarded by the Village Board on May 8:

• Contract No. 1 in the amount of $967,770 for pipeline construction/replacement to Reale Construction Company, Inc., Ticonderoga, New York.
• Contract No. 2 in the amount of $352,030.01 for pipeline rehabilitation to Insituform Technologies, LLC, Chesterfield, MO
• Contract No. 3 in the amount of $283,350 for general construction to O’Connell Electric Company, Victor, New York.
• Contract No. 4 in the amount of $198,500 for electrical work to Stilsing Electric, Inc., Rensselaer, New York.

In other action May 8

The Village Board officially approved the 2012-13 water budget after it continued to review and make adjustments to the EDU quantities assigned to various village properties on a list provided by the Town Assessor’s Office. Some of the EDU assignments came into question during the last board meeting on April 24, requiring further review.

Revenues from the new EDU system, which carries higher water rents for most village property owners of $220 per year, will be used to pay off a 38-year loan on a recently installed water pipeline that draws water from the Saratoga County Water Authority.

The annual EDU charge for inside village users will be billed on June 1, 2012, and payable within 30 calendar days. The June 1 bill will identify the number of EDUs assigned by the village and include a copy of the village water regulations and rates.

Should a village resident wish to challenge the number of EDUs assigned by the village they must notify the Village Clerk’s office in writing of their objection and the basis thereof within five days of their receipt of the June 1, 2012 bill.