$1.25 million grant will help pay for trailer park water main

Craig Fox, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·2 min read
1

Dec. 30—WATERTOWN — The town has arranged for a $1.25 million grant to install a new water main at the trailer park on Route 11 following a water pipe break that caused residents to be without water for more than a week last year.

The town will receive the funding through the state's Community Development Block Grant program, in addition to a previous $5 million grant that will help finance the new water main, said Michael Alteri, chief engineer with BCA Associates.

Alteri gave an update on the $9 million project to the Town Council on Thursday night.

Last year, the Town Council agreed to seek funding to install a new water main for Northland Estates and for BCA Architects & Engineers, Watertown, to research how the town could obtain a state grant for the project.

During a cold snap in January 2022, about 60 tenants ended up with no water inside their homes for a week after a water main break at the trailer park.

The broken water pipe, near the park's pumphouse, spilled water at an alarming rate, over 6,000 gallons per day and another break a few weeks later.

Cook Properties NY, a Rochester-based company, purchased the park in October 2021. The company was unaware of the water main issues that had been occurring for years when it purchased the property.

The project will consist of installing a new water main — totaling a couple miles in length of piping — at the main entrance of property, bring it through the trailer park, hook it up on the other side on Route 283 and for lateral connections to individual mobile homes.

BCA will be working on the design of the project over the next several months, with construction not starting until "probably next spring," Alteri said.

Alteri plans to return to next month's town council meeting armed with a series of resolutions associated with the grants that the council will have to approve, he said.

"There's quite a bit of paperwork to do," he said.

Previously, the town secured the $5 million grant from the state's Water Infrastructure Improvement & Intermunicipal Grant program.

The project will consist of installing a new water main at the main entrance of property, bring it through the trailer park, hook it up on the other side on Route 283 and for lateral connections to individual mobile homes.

Town Supervisor Joel L. Bartlett said Thursday night that G&G Municipal Consulting and Grant Writing, Spencerport, will administer the grants for the town.

The town will be reimbursed by the CDBG grant for any money paid to the Spencerport consultant, Bartlett said. The town doesn't plan to use taxpayer money for the project.

The $1.25 million is actually federal funding that's run through the state's CDBG program, Alteri said.