pPORT LEYDEN — Consultants for the southern Lewis County regional water program say the primarily grant-funded study could lead to shared cost savings and promote development in the area./pp“If you want growth, water is one of the things that will help drive that,” Richard B. Henry III, senior vice president at Clark Patterson Lee, Buffalo, said during an informational session Thursday at the Port Leyden fire hall./ppLewis County has hired Clark Patterson Lee to serve as lead consultant for the project — being done on behalf of the villages of Port Leyden, Lyons Falls and Constableville and towns of Lewis, Leyden and Lyonsdale — for up to $299,000. State economic development funding is to cover 90 percent of the project cost, with the county to pick up the 10 percent local share./ppThe project will include development of a water treatment and distribution master plan, an operations plan, an intermunicipal agreement proposal and a financial analysis, as well as an environmental review./ppAt the end of the process, participating municipalities may choose to keep working together informally, enter formal agreements to seek administrative efficiencies or create a regional water district./ppThe study must be completed within one year, but Mr. Henry said it could be finished as soon as the end of 2016./ppDavid A. Chase, principal associate with Clark Patterson Lee, said he met with officials from the three villages and will be continuing to collect information — including water rates, debt service and community wish lists — as the study progresses./pp“The more information you can provide us, the better,” Mr. Chase told the roughly 30 attendees./pp“This is your project, and what you put into it is what you’ll get out of it,” Lewis County Planning Director Frank J. Pace said./ppWhile a 2009 countywide water study indicated that the three villages had an ample supply of water, local officials indicated that aging water lines — including some outside village boundaries — could become an issue in the not-so-distant future./pp“One of the common threads is that there is a lot of very, very old infrastructure,” Mr. Chase said./ppArchitects showcased four regional water projects in Western New York that they have been involved with, including one in Genesee County that led to a $35 million joint project featuring 30 miles of pipe connecting several municipalities and one in Wyoming County, where hilly terrain made it unrealistic to connect systems. In the latter, participating communities were able to save money by sharing operators, conducting water sampling in the county seat of Warsaw rather than taking samples to Pennsylvania and getting grants to improve leak detection. /pp“By creating partnerships, you create the opportunity,” Mr. Pace said./ppA couple of participants questioned the rationale for doing such a project in southern Lewis County, citing its relative lack of industry and questioning whether development would happen in such a poor, rural area./pp“I think you’re underestimating the potential,” County Manager Elizabeth Swearingin said./ppThe impetus for the project stemmed from the nanotechnology boom in Utica, where 5,000 jobs are to be created in the next 10 years, Mrs. Swearingin said./ppAnd some employees likely would be attracted to live in southern Lewis County for the lifestyle, strong schools and other amenities, she said./pp“You’re a half-hour from that,” Mrs. Swearingin said. “For people from Los Angeles, that’s like going to the grocery store.”/ppConsultant Patrick H. Brennan, who is assisting with the project, agreed, pointing out the two Little League fields teeming with young baseball players that were visible from the fire hall’s meeting room./pp“You have a lot to offer,” he said. “It’s a pretty cool place, and other people may think the same thing.”/ppProject officials said they plan to hold similar meetings every few months to keep people updated on its progress./p
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