County engineers propose new Valley View wastewater plant; Legislature authorizes WQIP grant application

Delaware Engineering on Tuesday told the Orange County Health and Mental Health Committee that the county should build a new 250,000-gallon-a-day wastewater treatment plant for the Valley View campus rather than try to upgrade the existing, aging plant.

Mary Bethany, a partner at Delaware Engineering, said the existing facility “is not suitable for upgrade for long term regulatory compliance.” She told legislators the current plant — permitted for 126,000 gallons per day with an average daily flow of about 31,000 gallons and a maximum month flow used for planning of about 49,000 gallons — struggles to meet both current and newly tightened New York State Department of Environmental Conservation permit limits for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) and ammonia nitrogen.

The engineering team proposed constructing a new plant on former filter-bed land across Jessup Switch Road, using technology consistent with other county projects and reusing the existing outfall into the Wallkill River. The firm estimated a total project cost of about $24,000,000, and described a timeline that includes 90% design by the end of the year, regulatory review and bid-ready documents by March of the following year, and a construction notice to proceed in the summer of that next year followed by roughly 12 months of active construction.

Mary Bethany said the proposed plant is designed to be modular and flexible: “The plant's designed for that flexibility. Plant is also designed so that if in the future ... you wanted to make it a bigger plant, you can see we have some more land there. We would just duplicate some of those facilities right adjacent to it.”

County staff and the engineering firm outlined financing options that the county is pursuing: applications to the state Clean Water State Revolving Fund (low-interest loans and grants), the state Water Quality Improvement Program (WQIP; grants up to $10 million for eligible projects), and, in a later cycle, the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (competitive grant funding). Mary Bethany said the county put the project on the SRF project list before the May 30 deadline and that the WQIP application requires a legislative authorizing resolution — which the committee later approved.

Legislators pressed for details on capacity planning and cost allocation. The engineers said the 250,000-gallon design accounts for existing campus uses and possible future development on underused portions of the Valley View campus; they also said the design includes redundant treatment trains so a single unit can be taken offline for maintenance while the facility continues to treat wastewater.

Lawrence Ledoux, Commissioner of Valley View Center, and Donna Shracker, Director of Finance at Valley View, were present for the briefing and answered finance and operations questions. County staff agreed to share the detailed engineering report and the project breakdown with legislators after the meeting.

The committee then voted to authorize the county executive, in conjunction with Valley View, to submit an application to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for the WQIP program with a request range of $1,000,000 to $10,000,000 and to execute related documents if awarded. The motion passed with the committee recording a voice vote of "Aye." The motion did not include a recorded roll-call tally in the public transcript.

The presentation and subsequent discussion made clear two near-term risks: the existing plant is challenged to meet its permit consistently, and design/permit reviews will be needed before construction can start. County and engineering staff said they will continue interim investments and regulatory coordination to maintain compliance while the new facility is designed and built.

The county will pursue stacked funding sources and apply to multiple state programs; officials emphasized that grant awards are competitive and not guaranteed. Mary Bethany noted some grant program timing constraints (the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act application window runs later and could be used on the project in a subsequent cycle).

Outlook: County officials said final design completion is expected in 2025 with regulatory approvals, bidding and likely construction following in 2026–2027 if funding is secured.