LaGuardia developer stalled by water and sewer limits

CHESTER — The developer of the former Camp LaGuardia site is trying to find a way to get sewer service that will accommodate a new housing and commercial development of major magnitude. The search has been difficult, and deadlines are passing. It’s not just a matter of finding sufficient sewage capacity. That problem is intertwined with the need to find water in enough abundance to treat the sewage. The more sewage to be treated, the more water is required. Which leads to a third problem: all that treated sewage needs to go somewhere — whether it’s Blackmeadow Creek, already being carefully monitored by the state conservation department; the Moodna Creek; or the wetlands surrounding the property. The Westchester-based firm Mountco Construction and Development Corp. needs to solve these problems before it can get the approvals it needs to build 800 houses, 250,000 square feet of commercial space, a branch of St. Mary’s College, and, possibly, some municipal buildings on the 258-acre site. This week the county legislature’s property committee asked why Mountco has been given two extensions of several months each, past the 120-day period the legislature allowed. The chair of the property committee, Michael Paduch, expressed anger that for the second month in a row, county Supervisor Ed Diana was not present to answer their questions — both about the extensions, which allow the $100,000 deposit for the property to be refunded, and about reformulating sewer districts. Dave Darwin, the county executive’s lawyer, said Diana could not attend because he was at budget meetings in Albany. Time extensions “are not unusual in these kinds of contracts,” he said. Legislator Dan Depew of Middletown disagreed. “If it were my house or yours...the money would not be refundable,” he said. Darwin said Mountco has been making many good faith efforts to meet their obligations, but the sewage problem remained thorny. “The capacity is there,” Darwin insisted. But if so, then what is the problem? legislators wanted to know. Darwin said the problem is not related to the current lawsuit by Kiryas Joel, which is demanding additional capacity from the Harriman plant. So far, Darwin said, “Mountco has worked very hard” and has completed the environmental assessment form, draft scope, draft zoning revision, phase 1 environmental review, wetland evaluation, and historical site evaluation, and has had numerous meetings with town officials and congressmen. He said they were held up by the towns involved — the town and village of Chester and the town of Blooming Grove — as to which would become lead agency on the project. In the end, the town of Chester and the town of Blooming Grove will be co-lead agencies. Sewage and water problems all over Shortages of sewage and water capacity have been popping up all over the county recently. The state department of environmental conservation this week cited the Highland Mills treatment plant for allowing human waste flowing out of its pipes and into the Moodna Creek, a major watershed that flows from the Hudson River at Cornwall, all the way through the lower Hudson Valley, including Chester and Goshen, and on to Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, the town of Goshen has been complaining about quadrupled sewer and water fees in its sewer district. And now the town of Chester has encountered the same problem with the village of Chester. At this week’s town meeting, officials announced that while one of its water towers is being repainted, the town will be borrowing water from the village. But the village told the town they will be charged as “out of district users,” at one and a half times the normal rate. That brought the retort: “Maybe we should be charging them an out-of-district rate for their sewage.” If it seems like all of these water and sewer problems are getting out of hand, the county agrees. It is proposing to deal with both problems in its new comprehensive plan, with input from the county’s water authority and planning departments. David Church, the county’s planning commissioner, reassured the property committee several times no plan will be imposed on any municipality. Rather, he said, numerous municipalities are themselves asking for help, and towns and villages will have to sign a resolution say they want to participate. The plan is expected to be in their hands for review sometime in November, after which will follow a review by the public. Church said climate change will be a factor in years to come, when there will be spells of erratic weather, much like this summer, combining dry spells and lots of rain. He said there is a lot of groundwater in the area to fill the need — but it is not always where it is needed. There will therefore be a need for cooperative efforts to get everybody through the dry spells, and a way to store and distribute water. “Water will be important,” he predicted. “You need it to survive, and right now a bottle of water costs more than a bottle of gasoline.” Mountco will continue to be granted a grace period so that it can produce the required studies. But it will soon hit another speed bump with elections in Blooming Grove, where much of the property lies. Supervisor Charles Bohan will be retiring, and the new town supervisor will also have several new council members who will also have to be brought up to speed on the project. Mountco has a two-year limit. And the clock is ticking.