Town sets hearing on water protection district

WOODSTOCK, N.Y. >> Town Board members have set a public hearing on proposed amendments to zoning regulations by establishing a Water District Wellhead Protection Overlay District that would extend from near Comeau Drive to Bearsville.

The session is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. in the town offices on Comeau Drive.

“We have a very shallow well system up in the Bearsville flats that could be harmed by different activities,” Supervisor Bill McKenna said.

“God forbid that gets tainted,” he said. “We’d be in a lot of trouble and we also at this point don’t have to filter, which is a huge expense. So the idea of putting in well protection…could help us from having to deal with those issues.”

Municipal water, which serves about 750 connections, is drawn from seven wells near the Sawkill Creek and goes to areas around the business district and surrounding residential areas. The existing protection district includes a residential subdivision that has about 130 septic systems, including some that are reported to be more than 70 years old.

In 2007, Town Board members adopted aquifer protection regulations, which would have protected the area covered by the map, but the law was never filed with the state.

Prohibited activities in the district would include:

• Bottled water or bulk water facilities.

• Car wash businesses, equipment rental companies, and sales yards.

• Cemeteries or crematory facilities.

• Chemical or biological testing laboratories.

• Automotive storage facilities.

• Commercial pipelines for petroleum or other hazardous substances including wastewater and fertilizers.

• Contractor’s yard, extractive operations, and soil mining.

• Fuel oil distributor, gas station, automotive repair facility, or vehicle body shop.

• Golf course except for miniature golf.

Regulations for properties with existing septic systems will include having tanks pumped out and inspected “every three to five years” and provide the town with a paid receipt to prove there are no problems.

Town officials also plan to conduct a survey to evaluate potential existing hazards to the well system and develop a map of existing private wells that could impact the amount of water available to the town system.

“An evaluation (would include) all existing and proposed water wells or water intakes…and the magnitude of ground water and surface water drawdowns that will result from withdrawals at the use including a projection of drawdowns… and extent of impacts upon other existing water users,” they wrote.