Coalition delays OK of watershed deal
The Executive Committee of the Coalition of Watershed Towns was ready and eager to sign off on a new deal with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection this week, but it was not to be.
The deal, called a Supplemental Side Agreement, is a part of the Filtration Avoidance Determination now being prepared for New York City by the state Department of Health. An extension of the 1997 Watershed Memorandum of Agreement between New York City and the communities in its upstate watershed, the Filtration Avoidance Determination means the city does not have to filter drinking water at its sources, such as the Ashokan Reservoir in Ulster County.
Jeffrey Baker, attorney for the Coalition of Watershed Towns, told the Executive Committee in an email that the Supplemental Side Agreement would be ready for approval and signing on Monday, but when he arrived at the committee’s meeting that day, he said circumstances had changed,
“There will be no vote tonight as expected,” he said. “We still have some outstanding issues.”
The key wrinkle is in the details, or lack thereof, of a plan to have New York City Department of Environmental Protection staff move to a new location in Arkville, something the coalition of towns asked for as part of the agreement.
“We want as many of the regulatory staff as possible out here,” Baker said.
But the city department, which operates the upstate reservoirs, needs to make more of a commitment, in writing, to making that move, he said.
Asked recently to clarify the Department of Environmental Protection’s position on the relocation, spokesman Adam Bosch replied by email: “The Catskill Watershed Corporation is going to build a new office in Arkville on a piece of property near the gym/rec center. We agreed to share that space with them, and we plan to move staff there at some point in the future. This is several years off into the future.
“At this point, I don’t have any cost estimates or employee number estimates for you. It’s too early,” Bosch added. “However, it makes a lot of sense for DEP to have staff located in Arkville because it is a central location within the watershed, which is where we do the vast majority of our work.”
Bosch said the department is not moving its Midtown Kingston office to Arkville, “but we will be establishing a presence in Arkville at some point in the next few years.”
Baker said he hopes outstanding issues can be resolved in the for the April 17 meeting of the coalition’s Executive Committee so the Supplemental Side Agreement can be approved and signed at that time.