NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - North Salem will receive $1.25 million in federal funding for a proposed sewer project.
U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler (R/C) held a press conference last week in Rockland County to highlight “major infrastructure and public safety investments” being made in the 17th Congressional District in Fiscal Year 2025. (Yorktown in Westchester and Carmel in Putnam County are also among the 15 grant recipients.)
The community project money earmarked for North Salem will help it to replace septic systems and cesspools with sewers in Croton Falls’ general business district.
The hamlet has been struggling because some of its businesses are on older septic tanks that can’t be upgraded due to a lack of space.
This has been a big problem, especially for restaurants that have residential apartments over them.
The Muscoot Reservoir is nearby and many of those existing tanks and fields are located on property belonging to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and under roads.
If they were to fail, some are simply not fixable.
“Croton Falls needs sewers” in order for the town to “take advantage of its assets and begin to realize the potential of the community,” Lawler said.
“Croton Falls is a business community, has a MTA train station, and its on Exit 8 (of) Route 684 and it does have cesspools and septic tanks,” North Salem Supervisor Warren Lucas said. “This allows us really to close our funding amount that we needed on the project.”
The work could start as early as next year, he said.
Lucas praised Lawler and his team as “exceptional.”
“He’s always available and I just want to thank him for that. It’s very much appreciated,” he added.
“When I was elected to represent this district, I promised I would work with my partners at every level of government and in both parties to prioritize the needs of our residents,” the congressman said. “That’s exactly what I’ve done in working with each of the officials with me here today to ensure funding for each of these important projects.”
“Projects like these are great examples of what we can accomplish when we put aside politics and focus on meeting the needs of our communities and constituents,” Lawler said. “That’s been my focus as a congressman, it’s been my focus throughout the appropriations process for both Fiscal Year 2024 and 2025, and it will always be my focus.”
Speaking of the grant process, Lucas said later that his strategy is to “get the money lined up” and then approach the involved parties.
The sewer project is “complex,” he said, noting that the town has been working on it since 2019.
One of the options being weighed is building a pump station and eventually hooking up with a wastewater treatment plant in Heritage Hills, a condo complex located in neighboring Somers.
A sewer district has to be formed. It would only include properties located within the general business district.
North Salem also has to work things out with Somers and the plant’s owners/operators.
“We’re moving forward. I think we’re in pretty good shape,” Lucas told North Salem News.
The town’s engineers estimate that the project could cost $10.9 million.
Lucas said he expects to get another $8 million in grant money from the DEP as part of its contract with the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).
The town has put in for a $1.17 million grant from the state’s Water Infrastructure Improvement (WIIA) program. It may get an answer on its request next month.
There is also $4.8 million in the DEC’s Water Quality Improvement Program (WQIP) grant that was voted by resolution for Croton Falls by the Northern Westchester Watershed Consortium (NWWC) and that is being requested now for the sewer project.
The first entity that needs to approve the request is the NWWC. It then goes to the county Planning Department, then the county executive’s office, the county Legislature, and the DEP.
Lucas said he was “very confident” that North Salem will get the needed money from the fund.
(He also pointed out that $10 million in WQIP funding was used to create the Peach Lake Sewer District.)
“We are close to getting the capital costs met,” Lucas said.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here