Neighbors to split $5K cost of new fire hydrant
TOWN OF ULSTER >> The town wants five property owners to pay for the replacement of a fire hydrant on Lake View Avenue.
Town Supervisor James Quigley said the hydrant, about halfway between Lucas Avenue and Scudder Avenue, was found to be inoperable during a recent inspection of Spring Lake Fire District hydrants.
“It was discovered that the fire hydrant on Lake View Avenue has seized up,” he said. “It doesn’t work any more, it’s non-functional. That becomes a fire company issue because if there’s a fire on that street, as there was in the mid-’90s, they’re not going to be able to use that hydrant.”
The property owners have been responsible for the cost of repairs to the hydrant under the terms of a decades-old agreement, Quigley said.
“In 1979, five homeowners came to the town and demanded water,” he said. “Out of that came a 40year agreement where the five homeowners paid for the construction of the water line ... and in the agreement, they are responsible for the maintenance of that water line.”
Quigley said the property owners now will have to split the $5,000 cost of replacing the hydrant.
For the time being, firefighters will connect to hydrants on Lucas Avenue — there’s one at the corner of Lake View — if there’s a fire in the neighborhood, or they’ll use water brought to the scene.
“That’s why most of the fire trucks in the town have 2,000 gallons of water on them,” Quigley said.
In a related matter, the town is in discussions with several property owners on nearby Hillside Terrace about the possibility of being served by the Spring Lake Water District.
“Two are in the district and five of them are outside the district,” Quigley said. “I’m going to go to the five people outside of the district and make a presentation to them that they are capable of getting town water if they agree to assume a cost of approximately $7,000 per house for the construction of this water line.”
Quigley said the five property owners have not cited any problems with the wells they currently use, “but they have expressed an interest to improve the quality of the water that they are getting, and at least three of them have indicated to me that they are willing to pay for municipal water.”