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By Melanie Lekocevic

Capital Region Independent Media

GREENVILLE — The dredging of the pond at Veterans’ Park could begin in early October, according to Town Supervisor Paul Macko.

The town awarded the project to local contractor John Halsted Excavating in Earlton for $42,800 during the town board’s Sept. 19 meeting.

Then the town was waiting on permits from the state, and once those came in on Sept. 22, the project was a go.

“We got the signed, sealed and delivered permit yesterday from the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) and the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the pond,” Macko said. “I am hoping the contractor can get in and do it the first full week of October, as long as the contractor is willing and weather permitting.”

“He figures it will take about three days to do,” Macko said of the contractor, “so he wants three solid days of no rain.”

Four bids were opened at a special Sept. 15 meeting of the board. Schoenecker Construction Company submitted a bid for $74,580; William M. Larned & Sons Inc. in Schenectady bid $100,616; Brothers Landscaping in Craryville bid $84,500; and John Halsted Excavating in Earlton submitted the lowest bid at $42,800.

“We didn’t render a decision when we opened the bids,” Macko said during the meeting. “We scanned them all to Delaware Engineering. They reviewed them all. They recommend we go with the low bidder of John Halsted Excavating for $42,800.”

Town Councilman John Bensen made the motion to approve awarding the bid to the Earlton-based company, with Town Councilman Richard Bear seconding the motion, which was approved unanimously by the board.

Macko said with the permit approved by the state Sept. 22, the town was ready to move ahead with the dredging project the first full week of October.

Bensen asked if there were plans to also clean out debris and trash that has accumulated under the bridge adjacent to the pond. Macko said there are.

“I have a call in to the DOT (Department of Transportation) in Cairo,” Macko said. “They assured me that they would come and clean it out. The worst thing to do would be to clean the pond out and then all the debris goes back into the pond, so we will get that cleaned out, too.”

The town has been eyeing the pond for dredging all summer. An excessively hot, dry summer left the pond with low water levels and a film of green algae on its surface. The town was looking to drain, dredge and refill it.

Pond dredging involves collecting and removing sediment and other materials that have accumulated in the water.

Several substantial rainfalls in September refilled the pond and the algae has receded, so the appearance is improved, but the debris and sediment are still there. The last time the pond was dredged was in 1997, Water Superintendent Leroy Bear said at the board’s August meeting.

In addition to dredging the pond, the Request for Proposal, or RFP, issued by the town also sought bids to hook up the newer addition to the Greenville Public Library to connect with the sewer system. That project was put out to bid twice, and no bids came in either time.

“This is the second round of bids where we didn’t get a bid, so I spoke to John Halsted about it today,” Macko said. “Without anybody coming forward, I asked him if he would give me a quote while he is here doing the dredging on what it would cost to hook it up while he has his equipment here. We would like to get that squared away.”

The town did not have a price on that component of the project at press time.