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Editorials
At Monday evening’s Lancaster Town Board meeting, resident Donna Lukowski inquired about the North Aurora sewer pumping station located near Southpoint Drive. She declared that bids were entered to update the facility in 2007 and now she understands they want to put in a new 2.7 mile new sewer line and decommission the pumping station facility, but cap it off so that they may use the facility in the future if needed.
“Who’s paying for this,” asked Lukowski?
Lancaster Supervisor Robert Giza, Chairman of Erie County Sewer District #4, said he didn’t hear about the sewer line project but did hear they want to eliminate the pumping station.
Lukowski stated that the intent of the new sewer line project was to increase sewer capacity to make it possible to build more homes in her area. “The residents will be paying for this stuff. As far as I’M concerned ¾’s of what we pay for in taxes is to accommodate for more development. It’s out of control and raising our taxes.
Second resident speaks on Aurora pumping station elimination
Resident Mike Fronczak had earlier asked about the elimination of the Aurora pumping station and the construction of a new sewer line.
Supervisor Giza told Fronczak that sewers can only take waste so far if there is an elevation change. Then a pumping station is required to lift the waste to the next level. “They are very expensive to build and expensive to maintain. So whenever we can, we try to eliminate those pumping stations. Because of new construction in the area, we are able to do that. So we will eliminate the pump station and eliminate some of the problems and the costs to maintain it.“
Fronczak declared that a memo he had seen stated there was a capacity issue at the pumping station and that the station was not handling the amount of waste coming to it. When Windsor Ridge South Phase I was approved it was with the condition that the developer had to run a sewer line from the development to the Aurora pumping station to provide adequate sewer capacity. Fronczak voiced that it seemed coincidental that the pumping station is now inadequate and will be eliminated and a new gravity sewer line will be constructed to relieve sewer capacity issues and allow for more new development.
Supervisor Giza interjected that he didn’t know where Fronczak was getting the memo from, but as Chair of the sewer district he didn’t hear anything about a new sewer line. “I just know the pump station on Aurora is broke and the subdivisions are going to gravity feed for pumping because you can do that now because we have the pitch we need to get the sewage out of there. And, it’s going to save us money.”
Fronczak asked where the sewage will be going to with the elimination of the pumping station.
Supervisor Giza replied that they were just building a new trunk line.
Town Engineer Robert Harris interjected that he hadn’t seen anything in writing as well regarding what Fronczak was referring to. “But maybe I haven’t been made privy to it because it’s being done by District Four and the staff at Erie County. They are still evolving the project so I don’t know whether the pump station will be involved or not. The object is to get the flow more efficiently to Transit Road than it is now. What group and what method they will use to do this, they have not shared with us. I know there is a project in the works, but I don’t know what it is.”
Fronczak asked for clarity. “Is the project in the works for sewer capacity or for pump capacity?”
Harris replied that it was for both reasons. “During wet weather events there are issues with both.”
Fronczak interjected that he was told there was plenty of sewer capacity when Windsor Ridge South was to be developed.
“They do,” replied Harris.
“Then why are we considering this project,” Fronczak asked.
“Because on December 17th we had three feet of snow melt and two inches of rain,” said Harris. That month we had laterals that leaked and lines… It was mostly because of wet weather otherwise the pumping station does the job.” Harris informed Fronczak that the county was working through the system to ensure proper sewer flow.
Comments
It was surprising to hear that neither Supervisor Giza, Chair of Erie County Sewer District #4 nor Town Engineer Robert Harris were notified by the Erie County Department of Environment & Planning (ECDEP) regarding a project proposal that would eliminate the Aurora North Pump Station and include the construction of a 2.75 mile sanitary sewer trunk-line project that would run from the Lancaster Aurora pump station to Borden Road in the Town of Cheektowaga.
According to the report they referred to, the new sewer line would run west to near Transit Road, head north across William Street to a location that would align with Strasmer Road and west to Borden Road (Sewer District #1).
The pipeline installation would not only cross Transit Road but would cut through wetlands, streams, heavily wooded areas and numerous privately owned properties.
The report states that, “the 30 year old Aurora North Pumping Station is nearing the end of its design life and that the current rate of residential growth will exceed the system’s design capacity by 2011. Recently, there has been an increase in wet-well alarms at the pumping station that signal an exceedance of in-flow capacity or pumping inefficiency. The proposed project will provide capacity for the existing population and the anticipated growth of approximately 475 people in the service area. The existing pumping station forcemain would be capped and left in place to provide potential sewer capacity for future sewer projects.”
Whether the project is approved or not will depend on need, cost, and environmental concerns. It appears from the report that an important consideration here is the need for more sewer capacity to allow for more development in the Town of Lancaster. And, it is believed by many that the development here noted is Windsor Ridge South. The developer was untruthful when telling the town and regulatory agencies that there was enough sewer capacity to develop Phase I of Windsor Ridge South. Site plan approval was conditioned on the developer running a trunk line to the Aurora North Pumping Station to have the sewer capacity required.
That was for Phase I. Is this project in the works to accommodate for building out the rest of Windsor Ridge South? I believe this is what Lukowski and Fronczak were alluding to. If so, is this the right thing to do for the taxpayers? Whose best interests are being served?
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