OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Silver Creek Mayor Jeff Hornburg explained an increase to the bill water and sewer customers will receive in the coming months at a recent meeting.

SILVER CREEK — Village residents will soon see an increase to their water and sewer charges following state-mandated upgrades that have been in the works for more than a decade.

Upon the recommendation of the village’s accountant, Bahgat and Laurito-Bahgat, the Village Board approved an increase to the quarterly debt charge of $21.14 to each resident’s bill. The cost for all customers will increase from $65 to $86.14 each quarter, beginning in February.

The increase was deemed necessary to cover the cost of the village’s Inflow and Infiltration (I&I) project, which was mandated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) through a consent order issued in 2012. The project contained five phases of work over its duration as the DEC sought to address wastewater overflows to the village’s treatment process during high water events such as storms.

“Having to go through all five stages, our $65 debt charge is not enough to cover the bill,” said Mayor Jeff Hornburg.

Capital project upgrades included the lining of sewer transmissions, smoke testing to identify inflow, and the removal of residential and commercial pumps. The cost of the first two phases of the improvements — in the amount of $1,113,522 — was financed by a low-interest loan in 2017 through the state’s Environmental Facilities Corporation.

After each phase of improvements, the DEC monitored the progress, but the problems were so great that all five phases of the project were deemed necessary. Phases 3-5 of the project came at a cost of $3,046,167, which was financed through an interest-free loan through the Environmental Facilities Corporation and a Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA) grant of $755,317.

The village is tasked with covering an annual debt cost of $459,294.43 stemming from all five phases of the project. In spreading that cost over the village’s 1,333 customers, a total debt service charge per customer amounts to $344.56 per year. There was not adequate funding set aside by previous administrations to cover the unforeseen costs of the project.

The increase from $65 each quarter — which customers have been paying consistently throughout the project — to $86.14 each quarter represents an overall increase of $84.56 to each customer.

The DEC will continue to monitor the work of the fifth — and likely final — phase of work over the next year. The village has been informed that the work to date satisfies the requirements and the upgrades should be in good standing for 40-50 years.

Deputy Mayor Kathy Tampio reluctantly made the motion to approve the increase as the rest of the Board did not want to be the bearer of bad news. The Board voted unanimously in favor of the increase.