Village to apply for grant

By Jo E. Prout

ALTAMONT — The village board Tuesday agreed to apply for grant money that could help village run-off water stay out of the new wastewater treatment plant.

Representatives of village engineer Barton & Loguidice explained to the board that water from sump pumps or downspouts on private properties that currently drains into the public sewer lines could be redirected to stay on the property owners’ land through the design of rain gardens, rain barrels, and other systems.

Barton & Loguidice landscape architect Thaddeus Kolankowski said that the village would apply for $75,000 in grant funds provided through the state’s Environmental Facilities Corporation’s Green Innovation Grant Program.

One-third of that would cover the cost of a feasibility study to determine which properties and solutions would be appropriate for the project, he told The Enterprise. The village needs to have a feasibility study done to address the overflow issues noted by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, he said.

The grant application would cost no more than $7,000, which would be divided into this current year’s budget and the next fiscal year, he said. Applications are due June 16.

“We could turn out a feasibility study and the grant [application] and get it in on time,” he said. Kolankowski said that the village could decide to wait.

“This is a program that repeats year after year,” he said. Even if Altamont receives the grant this year, he said, the village “would be a strong candidate for the next round in 2015.”

Barton & Loguidice representative Bob Murphy told The Enterprise that, if Altamont receives the grant, property owners could participate voluntarily. The grant will cover the costs of materials used in the project.

Kolankowski said that the village’s new wastewater plant is still getting inflow from storm drains. After the plant was upgraded, he said, the overflow problems, for which the village was being fined by the DEC, have been reduced but not eliminated.
Murphy and Kolankowski could not estimate how many voluntary property owners could be included in the project until after the feasibility study is performed but they suggested costs, covered by the grant, could run about $1,000 per home.