Village weighs multimillion-dollar wastewater options as capacity nears limits

Chair opened an extended discussion of regional sewage capacity and options after recent talks with neighboring municipalities. She said the village faces choices including a Remington Road bypass (estimated at about $2,000,000), expanding the village plant ("approximately, 1,000,000 more gallons a day... price tag of around 10,000,000"), or supporting a conceptual Town of Ithaca bypass that is not yet scoped or costed. The chair noted that agreements that govern regional cooperation — including a plan-to-plan agreement and a Gang of 6 memorandum — are due for renegotiation in 2025–26, pressing trustees to start defining a preferred approach.

Trustees and staff debated legal complexity, timing and cost-sharing. Trustee S3 cautioned that the Town of Ithaca bypass could require extensive real-estate transactions and rights acquisitions, while staff member Brent (S9) said engineering studies initiated by the town have been pulled back and that the village would be 'removed from that whole process' if another municipality built a bypass. The board discussed buying land as a hedge against future constraints and the risk that pursuing multiple large projects simultaneously could undermine capacity or finances.

The discussion identified several practical next steps: quantify costs and time to build each option, consider phased land acquisition to preserve future options, and coordinate with the Gang of 6 and regional engineers so final proposals can be costed before agreement deadlines. No formal decision was made; trustees signaled a desire to set price tags and timelines to guide future votes.