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Red Hook board considers reapplying for larger joint EFC sewer grant as village plant plans remain uncertain
Summary
Town engineers told the board the town’s December award of roughly $2.56 million could be replaced by a larger joint application with the village that would make the whole plant and town collection system eligible for up to 40% IMG grant funding. The board asked staff to prepare a draft joint application and to revisit the matter at its July meetings.
Red Hook town engineers on Wednesday urged the Town Board to pursue a larger, joint application to the State’s Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) rather than lock in the town’s December award for about $2.56 million.
Brandy Nelson, the town’s lead engineer, told the board that the town’s June 2024–2025 intermunicipal grant (IMG) application was awarded at about $2.5 million but that EFC advised breaking the single‑project approach and reapplying with the village so the village’s larger plant upgrade could be eligible for IMG funding—an award that can cover up to 40% of eligible project costs compared with 25% for the village’s WEIA alternative. Nelson said the town’s prior application allocated roughly $4.5 million to the town for collection improvements and $50,000 of the village plant module; the village now plans a larger plant (100,000–300,000 gpd) that would change budget shares.
Nelson told the board: "that application in December of 2025, the town received an award letter saying the EFC was happy to provide a grant towards the project in the amount of just about $2.5 million." She and her colleagues said EFC is encouraging a single joint application for the entire intermunicipal project so the combined proposal scores higher and attracts more grant funding.
Board members pressed engineers for timing and for clarity on next steps. Engineers said the village’s detailed cost breakdown and its preliminary engineering report (PER) are the missing pieces for a complete IMG application. Delaware Engineering is preparing the village PER; the village engineer told the town that a substantive budget and approved PER should be available in mid‑July, which would allow the town to prepare a draft joint application for board review at the July meetings. The EFC application window has a late‑July target; staff proposed preparing attachments and a draft application now and finishing the budget sheet when the village’s numbers arrive.
Several board members urged caution about canceling the current award without certainty from EFC. Nelson said the award has not been formally rescinded but that EFC “strongly [encouraged] us to apply for the entirety of the project” because the combined project could increase grant funding from roughly $2.5 million to many millions more. The town’s ARPA funds were mentioned as one available local funding source to cover design and matching obligations.
The board directed staff and the engineers to continue working with Delaware Engineering and the village, prepare a draft IMG application and attachments for review, and bring the item back to the July 14 and July 22 meetings if needed. Members also asked engineers to include a proposal for a town‑side peer review of plant design work the town will not directly design, to ensure the town’s collection system meshes with the expanded plant.
What happens next: staff will circulate a draft joint application and attach available environmental and financial documents for board review; the board expects updated cost numbers from the village engineer in mid‑July and will decide whether to proceed with a joint IMG submittal at its July meetings.
