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Ballston Spa advances water-meter replacement plan, seeks grant and contingent bonding
Summary
Trustees adopted a Type II SEQR determination and approved resolutions to seek grant funding from the Environmental Facilities Corporation to replace roughly 1,900 in-village meters (phase one) and to authorize contingent local bonding up to $1 million if the village receives a 75% GIGP/EFC grant.
The Ballston Spa Village Board on May 26 advanced a multi-phase water-meter replacement project and approved resolutions to pursue grant funding and contingent local financing to cover the village’s share.
Staff described a Phase One plan to replace approximately 1,900 in-village meters and a Phase Two that could add roughly 600 meters outside the village. Don Rhodess of Le Burge (as transcribed) told trustees that many of the village’s older meters are underreporting flow and that the village may be losing an estimated 25 to 30 percent of water volume annually because of misreading or low-response meters. "A lot of our water that we can't account for each year, which is about a 30% amount of our water," Rhodess said.
The project team said the village is seeking a Green Innovation Grant Program award through the Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) that could cover up to 75 percent of eligible costs. The full project cost was presented in materials at roughly $3.5 million; staff explained the bonding resolution will show the total project cost while the amount to be financed locally would be limited to up to $1 million and would be triggered only if the village receives the grant.
Trustees first voted to declare the project a Type II action consistent with the cited environmental code language and then voted to authorize submission of the EFC grant application and to prepare contingent local financing. The board completed roll-call votes on both measures.
Officials said grant timing and project readiness matter for scoring on the EFC intended-use plan, that meter replacement could reduce unaccounted-for water and downstream sewer impacts, and that portions of the local share could later qualify for low- or zero-interest loans depending on income-survey results and program eligibility.
Next steps include submission of the grant application to the EFC, finalizing engineering reports and, if awarded the grant, returning to the board with final bond-issuance documents and local-share financing proposals.
