Owego Town Council moves forward on $9M water treatment upgrades

[By Matt Freeze]

The town council recently moved forward with plans for $9 million in upgrades to a wastewater treatment plant located off Taylor Road, behind the former Sanmina building.

Councilman Craig Jochum said that beyond secured grants, the roughly $3 million deficit will be paid for out of capital improvement reserves that have been set aside over the course of many years, as this system upgrade has been on the horizon for over a decade.

Jochum said there’s no expectation of a coming increase to any surcharges as a result of the project.

Town Supervisor Gary Hellmers said Town Utilities Director Tyson Stiles never asks for more than what is strictly needed, and, as such, he felt comfortable with the project.

Councilman Jonathan Marks said that the concerns have been ongoing for years, with costs continuing to rise significantly— not only with construction but also engineering.

“This is a plant that will fall apart if we don’t do this,” Marks said.

“The cost jumped, and we weren’t comfortable with it, so we did what we could,” Hellmers said, adding that they were able to find some cost savings before approval.

Marks said the project is projected not to exceed $9 million, but the engineering firm has secured $6 million in grants with the possibility of an additional $500,000.

Jochum said the water treatment requirements come from the Chesapeake Bay Commission, and as a result, thankfully, there are a lot of grant funds available to help with projects like this.

“So, the town is only going to be obligated to come up with between $2.5 and $3 million,” Marks said. “The way this goes is that once the engineering is all done, they’ll put it out to bid, which probably won’t happen until later in the year.”

After going through that and the remaining processes, Marks said it’s likely that the construction wouldn’t start until 2027, with work stretching into 2028.

With talk of water treatment, a resident later asked whether there is fluoride in any of the town’s water, in light of recent federal claims that fluoride is a “dangerous neurotoxin,” according to the CDC.

“Do we put fluoride in our water?” resident David Smith asked.

Councilman Dean Morgan said the only fluoridated area in the town is Tioga Terrace.

Smith asked if there were any plans to remove that, because at the national level, there’s conversation about having it removed.

“That’s up to the people,” Morgan said. “That’s how it got put in — the people of Tioga Terrace petitioned years ago to have the water fluoridated.”

Smith said fluoridated water technically doesn’t do what it’s purported to.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. has said on numerous occasions that studies show fluoride is allegedly linked to lower IQ and cognitive developmental harm, is associated with conditions like arthritis, bone cancer, or thyroid disease, and argues that fluoride ingestion does very little to combat cavities.

Mainstream health organizations maintain that fluoride, at recommended levels, is safe and a significant step toward preventing tooth decay.

Morgan stressed that the majority of the town’s water system is chlorinated, but the only water treated with fluoride is in Tioga Terrace.

“It doesn’t affect me,” Smith said, because he is on well water. “It’s just more of a concerned citizen question.”

(Matt Freeze is a senior writer with the Sayre Morning Times.)