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Planning director outlines five-year coordinated infrastructure plan to reduce duplication and stretch CHIPS dollars
Summary
Lewis County planning staff presented a fluid five-year infrastructure plan focused on coordinating roadway, drainage, water and Complete Streets projects across villages and towns to reduce duplicate work and leverage grant funding.
Cassandra Buell, Lewis County director of planning and community development, presented a five-year coordinated infrastructure plan intended to align municipal water, wastewater and roadway projects with county roadway and drainage work to save costs and leverage grant funding.
Buell said the initiative grew from legislators' direction to reduce duplicative efforts where towns and the county were separately engineering and constructing adjacent or sequential projects. The plan identifies priority communities, coordinates engineering schedules, and pursues state and federal grants (CDBG, TAP, WQIP, NBRC and other competitive programs) so CHIPS and local taxpayer money stretch farther.
Why it matters: By coordinating preliminary engineering, construction mobilization and grant packaging, county staff said towns can avoid digging streets twice and can increase competitiveness for state grants. Buell's office estimated at least $250,000 in savings for Constableville alone by sharing engineering and mobilization costs and by sequencing construction with municipal water projects.
Highlighted projects: the presentation listed Constableville (roadway, drainage, Complete Streets and water infrastructure engineering), Port Leyden (water infrastructure coordination), Beaver Falls (drainage priorities and pedestrian connections to Beaver River Central School), Lyons Falls (Complete Streets funded by New York Forward plus wastewater and water projects) and East Martinsburg Road (flood and stabilization projects). Buell emphasized the plan is fluid: project phasing will depend on actual grant awards, borrowing/bond schedules and municipal readiness. She noted construction costs have risen and grant award timing can lag, creating a multi-year implementation timeline.
Legislative action tied to the plan: the legislature later approved an agreement with BCA (consulting engineers) for preliminary and final design, bidding and construction administration for the Constableville County Route 52 roadway and Complete Streets project at an amount not to exceed $190,000, plus up to $55,000 for additional anticipated services.
Ending: Buell asked legislators to consider coordinated timelines and to support grant-seeking and engineering coordination to reduce local cost burdens and accelerate multi-component projects.
