Richard A. McDonald (1943 – 2025)

By LORNA CHEROT LITTLEWAY

HILLSDALE–At its monthly meeting on Tuesday, January 14, the Town Board approved spending $4,000 to conduct a boundary survey at 2728 US 23, site of the hamlet’s wastewater treatment facility and leach fields. The survey is required by the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to get permits to repair the sewer system. Although the total acreage for the sewer system is 10 acres, the survey will focus on 3.5 acres of the southern portion of the parcel, where the wastewater treatment facility and access to it is located.

Supervisor D. Mike Dvorchak informed the board and audience that “an odor was detected and water found where it shouldn’t be in late November 2024.” He added, “Tests were conducted throughout December.”

George Schmitt, senior engineering project manager, reported on those tests, which included effluence levels, two rounds of soil percolation and exploratory testing around the pressure vents. Mr. Schmitt said the results from the percolation tests “[were] not great” and the vents likely need to be “replaced.”

The sewer system is 15 years old and serves 70 homes and businesses in the hamlet. In a telephone interview the day before Tuesday’s meeting, Supervisor Dvorchak said that the repair work would include “replacing fabric filters, control panel, faucets and sprinklers.” He explained that the sewer system had been maintained by a town employee, who died in December of 2023. The town then contracted with H2O Innovations to maintain it in January 2024.

The repair project will be financed with grants totaling $250, 000 secured by Senator Michelle Hinchey (D-41st) and Assemblymember Didi Barrett (D-106th). Mr. Dvorchak called the grants “essential” because state law limits “who pays for it.” Costs of repairs are borne by those directly impacted. He added, “It would have been a challenging proposition to get 70 establishments to pay the costs” of fixing the sewer system.

During the meeting Supervisor Dvorchak described the current sewer system as “a day by day situation” and acknowledged that proposed remedies are a “band aid.”

In the telephone interview, he said that work will start “as soon as weather permits” probably in April and “will take 2-3 months to complete.” Mr. Dvorchak called the current dynamics an “unfortunate situation” but was “very confident” that the system can be made “whole again.”

For information on Town Board meetings, go to https://hillsdaleny.com/