NEW SCOTLAND — The New Scotland Town Board recently approved a 20-year extension to its agreement with Bethlehem to supply water to the Feura Bush Water District.

Town Attorney Michael Naughton noted that the agreement, which dated back to 1982, brought Feura Bush in line with the rate structures of other local water districts, like Heldervale.

Bethlehem supplies water to five of New Scotland’s nine public water districts: Fort Grove, Heldervale, Swift Road, New Salem, and Feura Bush. 

The updated agreement with Bethlehem adds three provisions:

— Bethlehem can reduce or suspend deliveries during supply emergencies without penalty;

— New Scotland must impose conservation measures on its customers whenever Bethlehem does the same; and

— Rates will match those charged to all out-of-district customers.

Some board members took issue with the idea that Bethlehem has the ability to simultaneously tell customers to conserve water while charging them for a minimum of 15,000 gallons every six months, but Naughton clarified that the minimum charge is a New Scotland policy, which exists to cover fixed district costs like bond service, employees’ pay, and infrastructure upkeep.

“There are certain minimum expenses the district incurs that are kind of built-in to make sure that we are covering those costs,”  he said.

Board retains Naughton

In other Feura Bush news, the board, minus Supervisor Doug LaGrange, voted unanimously to retain Naughton to defend the town against a suit filed by a family of water-district residents over the ownership of a malfunctioning four-decades-old water line. 

The lawsuit was filed on Dec. 11 by Thomas and Valerie Newell along with their daughter, Erin. The suit centers on 2,000 feet — 1,200 of which are located on the Newells property — of six-inch ductile iron pipe that has leaked for years and “ruptured” three times since 2021, the suit says. 

The Newells contend that the pipe is a water main that the town is obligated to maintain; the town asserts that the line is a private lateral and the burden of perpetual repair and replacement lies solely with the property owners.

The town typically hires outside counsel when faced with out-of-the-ordinary legal matters  — like when it paid a labor lawyer to represent the town’s interest during a successful unionization push by highway department workers or hired a defense attorney amid an injury suit filed by a contractor working on the Hilton Barn. But, in the Newells’ case, the board ultimately determined that, since the issue has been ongoing for years and it’s been Naughton who has dealt with it thus far, Naughton was best equipped to defend the town.

On the clock

The board approved a $74,000 contract with Santorelli Electric to install  emergency generators at critical facilities. But supply-chain delays involving the supplier, Cummins, could derail the timeline for the grant-funded initiative.

Bidders originally agreed to installation by Dec. 15, but a clause in the contract allows for Santorelli to extend the installation date provided it adheres to a policy of notifying the town 48 hours in advance of an agreed-upon installation date.

With Feb. 1 now the drop-dead date, the town is awaiting a decision from administrators on an extension. LaGrange said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency isn’t in a hurry to issue a decision because it is “packaging everybody together,” and will issue a blanket decision on New Scotland’s project and other grant recipients.