NEW SCOTLAND — The town of New Scotland is pointing to the property owners’ own words to defend itself against a lawsuit over a 40-year-old failing water line.

In an answer filed Jan. 29, the town denied the core allegations of a suit filed in December by the Newell family of Feura Bush that claimed the town owns and must maintain 2,000 feet of six-inch ductile iron pipe serving the family’s Unionville Feura Bush Road property, citing a 2021 letter in which the family explicitly called the infrastructure a “private six inch main.”

In that May 2021 letter to the New Scotland Water Committee, the Newells discuss having the water line “conveyed to the Town.” They wrote to request an extension of the existing line as their daughter planned to build a home nearby.

The town in its Jan. 29 filing argues this language proves the Newells understood the line was private property requiring transfer, not already-owned public infrastructure — directly contradicting the claims in their current lawsuit.

Thomas and Valerie Newell, along with their daughter, Erin, filed the lawsuit on Dec. 11, claiming that 1,200 feet out of 2,000 feet of pipe running through their property had leaked for years, repeatedly failed, and that replacement costs were estimated in the tens of thousands of dollars.

The original dispute

The Newells contend the pipe is a town-owned water main that New Scotland is obligated to maintain. The town argues the line is a private lateral, meaning the property owners bear sole responsibility for its repair and replacement.

According to the original complaint, the pipe ruptured in May 2021, July 2023, and September 2023. Each time, the Newells paid for emergency repairs.

The town argues that two of previous leaks, in 2021 and 2023, were repaired at the Newells’ expense, which established an implied understanding that the line was private.

After the September 2023 rupture, the Newells proposed replacing approximately 500 feet of pipe on their property with two-inch high-density polyethylene pipe. The Newells offered to assume responsibility for the segment on their land but not the off-property stretch. Town attorney Michael Naughton rejected the plan.

In an August 2025 letter, Supervisor Doug LaGrange maintained that any repairs must encompass the entire 2,000 feet of pipe and that the Newells would need to secure easements and install a meter pit — which costs tens of thousands of dollars.

Main or lateral, private or public

The case turns on whether the pipe is a water main or a lateral.

Town Attorney Michael Naughton wrote in a 2023 letter to the Newells that the six-inch line was a “private improvement installed solely for the benefit of your property,” asserting there was no evidence the line was formally offered for dedication or accepted by the town board.

The Newells argue the line is a water main based on its six-inch diameter — typical for water mains, not individual home laterals — and historical documents including a 1983 permanent easement from Niagara Mohawk, now National Grid, which stated the town desired to “construct and maintain a water main” as part of Feura Bush Water District Contract No. 2, and a 1984 water-service application indicating a three-quarters-inch service line that the Newells assert is the private lateral tapping into the six-inch municipal main.

The town claims that the Newells’ property is located outside the official boundaries of the Feura Bush Water District, making the Newells out-of-district customers. So, while the district serves the property, the town asserts, this status means it has no obligation to maintain infrastructure outside district boundaries absent a specific contract.