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Pleasant Valley board hears competing plans for municipal water; DCWA to run stakeholder outreach
Summary
Officials and engineers discussed two paths to bring municipal water to Pleasant Valley: a Delaware Engineering map/plan report to define a town well-based water district and a proposal from the Duchess County Water and Wastewater Authority to interconnect with the Hide Park regional system. The board asked staff to draft a clarifying resolution and letter and supported DCWA-led stakeholder meetings this summer.
Pleasant Valley town officials spent the bulk of their May 21 meeting weighing two different approaches to provide municipal water to the hamlet and adjacent areas.
Engineers from Delaware Engineering told the board a map-and-planning report is the next formal step to determine who would receive service, a per-user cost estimate and whether a locally sourced well field is economically feasible. The firm noted a test well had been installed and ‘‘it appears that you have a viable well field,’’ and proposed a planning package with an estimated fee of $25,000 to prepare the required engineering and mapping work.
Board members asked for a concise, two-page memo outlining next steps, costs and an attainable timeline. ‘‘We need the next five steps, how much it costs and how long it will take,’’ one council member said, noting the board had received hundreds of pages of technical material and needed clear comparisons to evaluate options.
Separately, representatives from the Duchess County Water and Wastewater Authority (DCWA) outlined a plan to evaluate interconnection with the Hide Park regional water system. Jonathan Churns, DCWA executive director, said the authority would group stakeholders (commercial users, residential customers, and those on existing systems) and run targeted outreach, with stakeholder meetings planned for July and mailed notices to all affected addresses.
Churns and Jason Teed, DCWA asset manager, emphasized outreach would not commit the town to a project. They recommended a short town resolution and a letter clarifying that the town is seeking community input and is not yet making a final choice. ‘‘You do not need to make a decision based on how we’re looking to move forward,’’ Churns said, calling the meetings a way to gather community feedback and refine any plan.
The town board instructed staff to prepare a basic resolution and a draft letter for review at the next meeting and supported authorizing DCWA to begin stakeholder outreach, including mailings and local meetings. No formal commitment to either technical pathway was made at the meeting; the board emphasized it wants apples-to-apples cost and timeline comparisons before proceeding.
Next steps recorded by the board include producing a short memo summarizing options and costs, preparing a resolution and letter to clarify stakeholder outreach limits, and authorizing DCWA to begin public meetings and targeted mailings to inform residents and businesses.
