By ANN BELCHER
OBSERVER Correspondent
PORTLAND - Wheels seem to be in motion concerning water issues involving Pomfret, Portland the West Town of Dunkirk.
Portland Town Supervisor Dan Schrantz reported recently that he, as well as leaders from Pomfret and West Town of Dunkirk met with engineering representatives from Clark Patterson Lee to investigate what would be required for new water lines from the City of Dunkirk to the Town of Portland along Route 5.
"We met with Clark Patterson Lee to discuss preliminary numbers for a new line from the city to the Portland town line. We're working on the cost per customer as well as the different types of grants that would be available," stated Schrantz. "These are all preliminary ideas at this point, and certainly it would need to be presented to all of the boards for their review once we know more."
Based on the discussions held at their meeting, Schrantz indicated to the rest of the council that there are a few proposals that would be beneficial for all municipalities involved in being fed off of that particular water line, and that it doesn't appear to be a drastically expensive project based on the customer base.
"If each community applied for funding for the portion of the project that runs through their community, we would probably stand to get better funding that way. Then something would be in place for down the road if we had a joint water system."
Schrantz further stated, "The chlorine is in the tower now and seems to be working fairly good. The system is currently on a timer now and seems to be working much better than before. We basically just need to come up with a way to share the costs to tackle these types of projects between the three communities. West Town and Pomfret have agreed to work together with us. I think all of us realize that we need the resources and need to work together."
The town supervisor also gave a positive report to the council concerning the Chadwick Bay Regional Water project. Individual presentations are expected to roll out to communities this year on the benefits of a regional water operation, and Schrantz indicated there is positive and substantial support at the government level that could give the project a good nudge.
Council members also discussed continued support for joint billing to coincide with the Village of Brocton. Schrantz encouraged council members serving on the town's water committee to continue investigating to see what the potential benefits could look like.
The council will hold its year end fiscal meeting today at 4:30 p.m. at Town Hall to close out the year 2012.
