NEW SCOTLAND — The town of Bethlehem, to improve its water system, is working on obtaining 70 easements from New Scotland residents.

Bethlehem is putting in a new 24-inch water main along Route 85 to transmit water from its Vly Creek Reservoir through New Scotland and into the town of Bethlehem.

This new water main is going to run through the front yards of New Scotland residents.

Bethlehem town officials held a public information meeting earlier this month in New Scotland Town Hall to address the town’s residents.

Theresa Egan, Bethlehem’s supervisor, expressed a willingness to work with each resident, but at the same time made it perfectly clear that she is ready and willing to take people to court.
"We are prepared to move forward," she said. "Bethlehem needs to do this project."
"You absolutely have the right to say no," said Egan, an attorney. But, she went on, the courts most likely will rule in Bethlehem’s favor because improving the public water supply, and putting in water lines, is generally viewed by the courts as a project for the public good.

Bethlehem’s town attorney, Jim Potter, explained that a municipality by law can condemn private property as long as the town is taking that land for the public good.

In this case, Egan said, New Scotland residents will continue to own their land, but will grant Bethlehem a restricted easement, giving Bethlehem the right to come onto the private property and install the water main.
"We cannot go anywhere else on your property," she said, and the easement language is detailed just for the water purpose. Also, the easement is specific to Bethlehem, so the town of New Scotland can’t use it either, she said.

These easements along Route 85 are new to New Scotland residents because the old pipes, including the largest 16-inch line, are located within the current highway right-of-way. In most instances, the pipe is located in the ditch line.

Egan said that the easement area is not just for the actual pipe but gives the construction workers enough space to work within, so they are not trespassing.
"We know there’s a value to do that," Egan said, and, based on the formula that both the county and state use, Bethlehem will be giving New Scotland residents nine cents per square foot.

Residents grumbled when they heard just nine cents.
Other compensation besides the nine cents includes returning the property back to the way it looked before the land was dug up. Bethlehem will be taking "pre-construction photos" of the land and restore the property to the way it was, officials say. Lawn will be restored, driveways put back, and new trees planted.

New Scotland residents asked about trees of sentimental value. Others asked about stone walls with easement lines running right through them. Another resident said he is concerned because the easement line includes an historic barn on his property.
If a family has a 100-year-old oak tree that is in the easement that will have to be cut down, Egan said, "We obviously can’t replace that tree or bring it back," Egan said. But, Bethlehem will discuss with the landowner what he or she would like instead, what kind of shrubs or bushes or cedar trees would be planted elsewhere in the property to try to compensate.
If a landowner wanted to replant a tree in the same location, Egan said, "That would be at your own risk," because if Bethlehem ever had to dig up the line, it would have to take down that tree again.

Egan told The Enterprise this Wednesday that there wouldn’t be an adjustment to the base price of nine cents, but, based on individual cases and negotiations, there could be some adjustments to the price in the form of a stipend, for things of value lost due to construction.
"There tends to be a mistrust of municipalities," Egan said at the public meeting, so, if anyone has any questions or rumors are circulating, she encouraged people to call her to discuss the project.
"We certainly believe in public outreach," she told The Enterprise this Wednesday.

Al Sorrentino has been hired by Bethlehem as a subcontractor to get the easements. He has been knocking on residents’ doors and making phone calls, Egan said. Egan doesn’t know how many of the 70 contracts have been received yet, but, after the public meeting was held, Sorrentino has been more successful, Egan said.

One question that Egan has been hearing from New Scotland residents is that they would like to know the schedule, but, without the easements in hand the schedule can’t be specific, she said.

Egan wants to bid out the construction contract this fall.
Bethlehem would like the easement contracts back, Egan said, "The sooner the better."
"We would much rather have a consensus," Egan said. But, depending on the progress Sorrentino makes over the next couple of weeks, Bethlehem’s town board will begin discussing with one of the attorneys proceeding with an eminent domain proceeding.

Wiggle room"
"We don’t like to cut down trees that aren’t necessary," said Mike Kolceski, a consulting engineer for Bethlehem. "The less we destroy, the better."
"We have a couple feet of leeway — to move a couple of feet away from a tree," Kolceski said. Because the line has a 24-inch diameter, moving a foot or so may not make a difference for the fate of a giant tree anyway.
"I’m disappointed that there is no more wiggle room," New Scotland council member, Andrea Gleason, said. She was disappointed that Bethlehem waited so long before addressing New Scotland, "coming to us now after things are already set," she said.

Egan said that a lot of field work was done to determine where to place the line, what side of the road, and where utilities are.

A map of the pipe placement shows the water main will be crossing over Route 85 three times in New Scotland.

There are no instances where a building has to be moved, Egan told The Enterprise this Wednesday; engineers avoided all the big-ticket items, she said.

Construction is planned for next spring, starting in April and ending by November, said Kolceski.

The contractors will only have to be on each New Scotland property for one or two days, to put in the six-foot-deep line, Bethlehem officials said.

Residents will be notified a week to 30 days in advance when the contractors will be coming onto their property.
After the pipe is in, and the land restored, Egan said, "Hopefully, you’ll never need to talk to us again." But, if there is ever a problem, anytime, New Scotland residents should call Bethlehem; then the town engineers or the contractor will come out to fix the problem, such as if the pipe were leaking.

The easement agreement includes Bethlehem’s responsibility to maintain the pipeline, Egan said. Because of this, though, after Bethlehem workers leave the property, residents are not allowed to build any structures within the area of the easement.

Jurisdiction

New Scotland residents wanted to know, how the town of Bethlehem had the right to take easements from a neighboring town. They asked what jurisdiction Bethlehem has over New Scotland.
Potter referred to New York State’s Town Law, which says eminent domain procedure may be used "either within or outside the town boundaries, required for any public purpose..."
"We can condemn town of New Scotland property," Potter said, as long as it is for the public good.
"But for whose public good"" came a question from the gallery.
"For the town taking the right-of-way," Potter responded.
"What’s the benefit to the town of new Scotland"" someone else asked.
"Bethlehem is one of the top taxpayers in New Scotland," Egan said.

Bethlehem owns the Vly Creek Reservoir, which is within the town of New Scotland’s borders.
According to papers from the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, Bethlehem acquired the privately-owned water plant in 1927. But, at that time, Bethlehem was required by the state water commission to continue to supply water in New Scotland "to persons resident in the town of New Scotland and Bethlehem along the supply line."
In 1958, Bethlehem requested the commission clarify whether the word "continue" meant only people already receiving water or all future customers. The Board of Water Commissioners ruled that both present and future customers in that area were to be served but limited the scope to water-takers located 150 feet from the supply line, on property that abuts the public highway.

"What’s in it for us""

New Scotland resident Karen Moreau, who owns the farm stand Our Family Harvest on Route 85, said that she knows Bethlehem acquired the Vly Creek Reservoir many years ago, but she is looking toward the future. From one administration to the next, she said at the public hearing, the water situation for New Scotland isn’t improving. Now, with Bethlehem working on a project to improve its water system, when will New Scotland benefit, she asked.
Egan said that she and New Scotland Supervisor Ed Clark "Have these water discussions regularly." She went on, "Bethlehem continues to be more than happy to come to the table to discuss this."

But, the pipeline project will not be giving more water to New Scotland. The 24-inch main is designed as a transmission line; there will be no water taps into the current 22-inch pipe, said Chuck Wickham, Bethlehem’s director of Field Operations.

Currently, there are three Bethlehem water lines running along Route 85 in New Scotland—a 6-inch line, a 10-inch line, and a 16-inch line.

With this 2006 upgrade project, Bethlehem will completely phase out and abandon the oldest six-inch line, Wickham said. But, maybe in the future, more New Scotland residents will be able to tap into the remaining 10- or 16-inch lines.

A New Scotland resident who lives on Bullock Road asked about putting in some fire hydrants.
He said of Bethlehem officials, "They are taking our property for the public good; okay, then put in a couple fire hydrants for public good — for public safety."
"This particular project has to do with getting from point A to point B," Egan said, and it’s up to New Scotland officials to decide how they are going to get more water.
New Scotland’s town engineer, R. Mark Dempf, laid out the situation more bluntly and clearly to the residents: "Bethlehem at this time...has no water to sell to New Scotland," he said and probably won’t in the future.
"What’s in it for us" The bottom line is, nothing," Dempf said.
This project, means "nothing new for New Scotland," Dempf said. "Our future is dependent on Albany."

Dempf said that Bethlehem is having a hard enough time supplying water to its own residents.
"There is now a sense of regionalizing water," Egan said; everyone is looking toward the city of Albany.

New Scotland, for an number of years, has had the hope of purchasing water from the city of Albany and then working out an agreement with Bethlehem to transmit the water.