State grant sought to extend sewer service
The town will seek a $750,000 state grant to help fund a municipal sewer extension from the Kingston city line to several side streets along Lucas Avenue near Spring Lake.
The Town Board approved applying for the grant during a meeting Thursday. Town Supervisor James Quigley said several property owners have requested connections following approval of a sewer connection for DiBella’s restaurant on Lucas Avenue.
DiBella’s moved to Ulster from Washington Avenue in Kingston because of the sinkhole that closed the road near the restaurant. The owner “then started an action against the city to try to get sewer [service] because they ran him out of his Washington Avenue location,” Quigley said. “So he prevailed upon [then-Kingston Mayor Shayne] Gallo to do a single connection from his restaurant to the city of Kingston for a low pressure pump system. This caused an uproar in the neighborhood. Everybody said, ‘He’s got
sewer, why can’t we get sewer?’”
Quigley said DiBella’s ultimately paid $50,000 for the connection and that Gallo declined to allow other connections. Quigley said current Kingston Mayor Steve Noble has tentatively supported the proposal based on reallocating capacity limits from the Washington Avenue Sewer District.
“We purchased 70,000 gallons of capacity when we initially constructed the district, and then we have an option to buy and an additional 70,000 of capacity,” Quigley said. “What I asked Mayor Gallo to do was take that second 70,000-gallon capacity and redirect it to Spring Lake. He refused. Mayor Noble agreed, in concept.”
The proposal for a new sewer district calls for lines to extend to Catskill Avenue, Golf Terrace, Spring Lake Drive and Saccoman Avenue, as well as the Spring Lake Trailer Park, in a first phase. Lines would be extended to Maxwell Lane in the second phase.
Quigley said there are about 120 properties in the proposed district, which would be established only if the town is successful in getting the grant through the state’s consolidated funding program.