Sewage project the topic of recent board meeting

During the Village of Owego Board meeting held last week, Tom Katell, an engineer working on the Phase II Sewage design, offered a presentation. New York State has recognized that work needs to be done and five initial plans have been prepared for consideration.  

Part of the problem is that the digesters currently being used at the sewage plant are beyond repair and are not breaking down sewage in the amount of time they should. The digesters use a combination of time and temperature to reduce sludge. New digesters alone cost $5 million.  

The waste, Type-B, produces a sludge with limited uses while the newer digesters being recommended produce a Type-A that allow for much less limited use after reduction.  

One consideration is that the Village allows septic waste to be brought to the plant for processing, which would bring in revenue from tipping fees. Currently, the next closest plant that does this is in Ithaca. 

Restaurant grease adds an additional cost to the process, and the best plan would accommodate 5,000 gallons a week. The engineers have some concerns that were acceptable for Phase I, but need to be addressed for Phase II.  

In Phase II, pilings are needed because of the soil type. Also, clean (potable) water is required, so the well will have to have a new pump.  

As time for moving forward passes there is a problem of higher tariffs and material costs, which will increase the cost of the project. The cost would be about $10.2 million, for which the State would loan the money as a 25-year loan with 0 percent interest.

On another topic, applications for replacing windows on a couple of properties was brought up by residents in attendance. The consensus was that the Village Board didn’t need to be spending their time on window replacement issues while there were other more important matters, and that there are others in the community much more knowledgeable about historic buildings and a variety of window options while still keeping the historic nature that makes Owego a popular place for people from surrounding areas to visit.

This, of course, led to the topic of Owego’s Historic Preservation Commission that was disbanded by the previous Village Board.

Also, Police Chief Michael Tefler reported that there is a shortage of officers, which means that the cost of overtime is necessary.  

Department of Public Works Superintendent Jeff Soules stated he’s been asked by a number of citizens about the ability to put small-footage homes on their property in addition to their primary home. He also is concerned that there are usually five seasonal employees, but he’s only had one applicant so far.  

Trustee Plater talked about the opioid crisis, and noted he has been working on getting out information. Pamphlets will be inserted in an upcoming edition of The Owego Pennysaver about the problem.

During the closing public comments it was brought up that there are very inexpensive options to replacing historic windows. 

Also, Kevin Millar recently went to a meeting about reducing flood insurance rates that will not cost the Village any money, and offered to host an informational meeting on Monday, May 14, at 6:30 p.m.

The next Village Board meeting will be on Monday, May 14, at 7 p.m. at 20 Elm St.

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