NEW SCOTLAND — The Creekside housing development is closer to final approval as it seeks Bethlehem water taps, but current town residents paying double for the same service are calling for a revision of their water agreements.

“You can’t force people to give you what you want for less if they have a contract,” said Clerk to the Supervisor Lisa Boehlke at the August town board meeting.

Residents of the Heldervale water district in Slingerlands attended a public hearing before the board meeting about Creekside’s proposed tap into the Heldervale water system, calling for town officials to exercise care with older asbestos pipes if Creekside receives final approval.

“We’re hooking into ductile iron. There’s no asbestos in there,” said engineer Bruce Boswell of Boswell Engineering, the owner of the proposed development. He said that the plan calls for the taps to go farther than the asbestos pipe before a valve is installed.

“We never disturb the asbestos pipe, whatsoever,” Boswell said. “We’ve thought about this. Removing it creates a hazardous material. In ground, it does nothing to the ground.”

Town engineer Bruce Secor, of Stantec consulting services, said that there is no history of water-pipe breaks in the Heldervale area, but one resident said there was a break in the pipes last year.

“There was a break, but it was not below the ductile line,” said Kenneth Guyer, the town’s highway superintendent. “There have been breaks.”

Residents expressed concerns that their water rates would go up with the additional users on the system.

“There’ll be no change to the water rate,” Secor said.

Residents also asked the town for relief of the double rate they pay to Bethlehem as out-of-district users. Some stated that their bills might be 2.2 or 2.3 times the rate of similar water users in Bethlehem.

Boehlke and the board discussed New Scotland’s agreement with Bethlehem, with a consensus that the contract between the towns allows Bethlehem to charge up to two times the in-district rate.

One resident said he pays $1,000 every six months for Bethlehem water.

“Has the town looked for another water source?” asked resident Paul Kelly.

“Absolutely,” said Deputy Supervisor Douglas LaGrange, who led the public hearing and board meeting.

Residents and town board members agreed to meet again to discuss the water rates, more than a year after residents said they requested a meeting about the high costs.

For Creekside, with 16 lots off Miller Road, which is off New Scotland South Road, and four additional neighboring water and sewer taps, Boswell is proposing to run 810 feet of pipe from the Heldervale water district to the housing development.

Zoning board Chairman Robert Johnson, who spoke as a Heldervale resident, expressed concern about the length of pipe breaking.

“You’ll never have to worry about it,” Boswell said. He said that the newer, safer pipes would last at least 100 years.

“It’s going to happen,” Boswell said. “You should be very excited about it.”

“Are you going to guarantee that the line is never going to break?” asked an audience member.

“Yeah, I am,” Boswell said.

The board agreed that Creekside will not have a major affect on the environment and voted to make a negative declaration for the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act.