GUILDERLAND — After decades of lobbying by water-strapped residents of the rural west-end of town, a $7 million municipal water project is officially underway.
Tuesday night, the town board voted for Water District Extension 73, residents applauded, and one man said, "We’ve waited 40 years for this."

Construction, slated to begin in the spring of 2008, is to be completed within two years.

Supervisor Kenneth Runion told residents at Tuesday night’s meeting that, if the project runs smoothly, they could possibly have running municipal water before the two-year construction mark.

The extensions will bring water to the rural west end of Guilderland where many residents have private wells and frequently experience water shortages and poor water quality. A small group of residents in support of the project attended the meeting. At previous public hearings, only a couple of residents objected, saying they shouldn’t have to pay for municipal water if they did not want it.

Most of the residents in the area overwhelmingly support the extension.

Delaware Engineering began surveying the area for the water extensions in the fall of 2005, according to the engineering firm’s senior project manager, Mary Beth Bianconi.
Bianconi spoke at the meeting on behalf of Delaware Engineering and called the project a "significant group of extensions." The extensions will help to increase the overall quality of the town’s water, according to Runion, due to "looping the lines."

Looped lines are less likely to stagnate or build-up harmful chemicals. Currently, the town flushes its water lines annually, which results in a period of brown water for residents.

A very small area of wetlands will be disturbed, Bianconi said, and a disturbance permit has been filed with the state. With proper construction procedures and restoration methods, the wetland disturbance will only be temporary, because the water lines are to be buried, Bianconi concluded.

Birchwood Archaeology, a New York State-certified archaeology firm, conducted a required study of the affected areas.

To begin the project, the town board:

— Approved a negative declaration in conclusion of the State’s Environmental Quality Review Act, meaning board members found that the project will not have a significant impact on the environment;

— Established Water District Extension Number 73, subject to permissive referendum;

— Submitted an application for a water supply permit to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation;

— Approved a bond resolution not to exceed $7,375,600, beginning in 2008 to fund the water extension; and

— Approved an engineering agreement with Delaware Engineering.
Councilman David Bosworth asked Bianconi to hold an informational meeting next spring to "bring people up to speed" on the project, to which she agreed.