Infrastructure work expected this year

WAWARSING, N.Y. >> Town Supervisor Terry Houck says 2020 will be a year of infrastructure projects in the town’s hamlets.

In particular, he noted planned water system improvements are in Napanoch and sewer system upgrades in Kerhonkson.

“The [state] Department of Corrections [and Community Supervision] is putting $10 million into the Napanoch sewer with no financial [obligation] to the town,” Houck said.

The department operates two state prisons in Napanoch.

“The Department of Corrections pays somewhere around 87 percent of the [sewer district’s operating] bill,” Houck added. “Now they’re putting an ... upgrade to the existing plant, which is obviously good for us.”

There are about 400 connections to the Napanoch sewage treatment plant.

Work on water lines in Kerhonkson is expected to continue this year after being delayed by an error in calculations by a bidder who underestimated the cost.

“They wrote in $10 a foot and it was $110 a foot,” Houck said. “It ended up being off by about $840,000. They had to withdraw their bid and it took a few months to get it going again.”

There are about 245 connections to the Kerhonkson water system, which is undergoing some $4 million in upgrades. The upgrades will cover some 12,480 feet of lines along U.S. Route 209.

Separately, Houck is cautiously optimistic that work will begin this year on a $20 million project to provide water to about 230 properties in Wawarsing that were damaged by leaks in the New York City-owned Delaware Aqueduct.

“They created three wells, and then they’re going to run a water line right up [Route] 209,” he said. “We’re hoping by April everything works out.”

Complains from Wawarsing residents about the leaks date to 2002, but it took until 2010 for New York City to admit the aqueduct’s possible role in the property damage. The admission cane after environmental advocacy group Riverkeeper reported that memos show the city knew about leaks for 20 years.

Houck also expects to make progress this year toward restoring the Beer Kill and Sandburg creeks with money from the New York Rising flood-control initiative.