Hallocks Mill Sewer Extension Project

At the 10/13/20 Town Board meeting, the Town received an update from the Town Engineer as follows:

1. The Town worked with Westchester County Planning to finalize the terms of their $10M funding commitment.  The project was modified to include the Town furnishing package pump systems to residents that will be connecting to low-pressure pump systems.
   • At an estimated cost of $8,000 per unit x 130 units, the Town cost would be $1,040,000.  This cost was assigned as part of the project contingency and is not changing the overall project cost estimate of $14.3M
   • See Revised Cost Table, dated July 2020
2. The NYCDEP gave re-approval that the Yorktown project is eligible for the $10M in funding as part of the Watershed agreement.
3. The County is working to complete the Right-of-Objection process, which states the $10M in funding will be made available to Yorktown.  Other affected agencies and interested parties have a 30-day window to object.  Once the project moves past this step, a term sheet and Draft Inter-Municipal Agreement will be prepared by the County Law Dept and sent to Yorktown for review and action.
4. The Town is continuing to perform rehabilitation of wastewater pump stations:
   • Pump station work complete: Walden Woods, Jefferson  Valley, Jefferson Park
   • Pump station work commenced: Crystal Lake, Hanover, Mohansic, Salem
5. The Town is continuing to perform work within the collection system; cleaning & cctv of pipelines, smoke testing, manhole inspection etc. to demonstrate compliance with CMOM requirements. 
6. The work described above will assist the Town when applying for an increase in the SPDES discharge permit.

At the 7/14/20 Town Board meeting, the Town received an update from the Town Engineer as follows:

1. The Supervisor and Town Engineer have been working with the Westchester County Planning Department to satisfy their concerns on the proposed sewer extension project.  An open issue to be resolved concerns the purchase of low-pressure pump systems; the County is concerned these parcel owners will not be likely to connect due to the high cost of purchasing the equipment system.  The County requested the Town purchase the pump stations for low-pressure pumping systems, which would bring their individual connection cost back in line with the gravity-type connections.
2. The cost to furnish 130 pump units @ $8,000/unit is approximately $1M.  The total estimated project cost estimate of $14.3M includes a $2.2M project contingency.  
3. The Town Board concurred with the revised approach to include the Town purchase of pump stations for low-pressure pumping systems.
4. The Supervisor and Town Engineer will go back to Westchester County Planning to try and finalize the $10M funding commitment.

At the 1/8/20 Town Board meeting, the Town received a summary update from the Town Engineer as follows:

1. Project Background & Work Performed to Date by the Engineering Dept & Consultants
2. Estimated project cost $14.3M:
   • Proposed Funding: $10M from the NYCDEP watershed fund, $4.3M to be bonded with 30 year payback
3. Results from Sewer Petition/Referendum (October through December 2019)
4. Next Steps & Planned Follow-up with Westchester County/NYCDEP

Sewer Petition - Unofficial Results

RE: New Sewers Within the Hallocks Mill Sewer District – Phase 1 

The return date of the Town sewer petition was Thursday December 19, 2019.  There were 318 parcels were in the Phase 1 Project Area; sewer petitions were sent out to the listed properties owners of all 318 parcels.  Here are the final statistics:

1. We received 223 returned petitions, signed and notarized as required. 
   • Response rate: 70%
     
     
2. Of the 223 responses received, 196 were “Yes” and 27 were “No”
   • % of Respondents voting Yes: 88%
     
     
3. According to NYS Comptroller’s Office guidelines, at least 50 percent of the Assessed Value must be in favor in order to “Pass”
   
   
4. The total Assessed Value in the Study Area was $2,507,657.  The total Assessed Value of those parcels in favor of the project was $1,557,707
   • % of Assessed Value voting Yes: 62%
     
     
5. Overall Assessment of voting results:
   • Petition “Passed” with significant community support

For the next few weeks the Engineering Department & Town Clerk’s Office will review the returned petitions and meet with the Town Supervisor to determine the next steps.

At the 10/16/19 Town Board meeting, the Board passed a resolution authorizing the Engineering Department to petition property owners in the Phase 1 project area.  Property owners will be asked to submit a YES or NO response by the petition end date of December 19, 2019.

The Phase 1 project area consists of 315 parcels in three (3) sub-areas. 

Resident Petition Letters will be mailed out during the week of 10/21/19.

• Resident letter and petition, click here.

Public information sessions will be held to discuss the project details and answer any questions you may have: Saturday November 2nd at 1 pm and Monday November 18th at 6 pm.  Both meetings will be held at the Albert A. Capellini Community & Cultural Center at 1974 Commerce Street, Yorktown Heights.  Notaries will be available to notarize your petition. 

Additional information on this project can be found in the Map Plan Report that has been prepared by the Engineering Department

• Map Plan Report, click here.
• Executive Summary of the Map Plan Report, click here.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Petition Responses are due back by Thursday December 19, 2019.

The Town Engineer presented an update to the Town Board at a work session held on 3/26/19. 

Several important steps have been taken over the past several months: (1) The Town completed environmental reviews and notifications as required by SEQRA; (2) Town staff performed measurements of individual homes to evaluate pumping vs. gravity sewer laterals; (3) Supervisor Gilbert and the Town Engineer met with regulatory agencies concerning the project approval process; (4) Supervisor Gilbert and staff worked on the steps needed to secure $10M in project funding from Westchester County & NYCDEP; (5) Supervisor Gilbert and staff met with the Environmental Facilities Corp (EFC) in Albany to discuss additional funding that may be available through EFC grants and/or low cost financing.

At this time the Town is working to advance a Phase 1 project to construct Town sewers that will benefit 315 parcels in the following areas:

Birch Street sub-area: 220 parcels

Sparkle Lake sub-area: 69 parcels

Sunrise Street sub-area: 26 parcels

The cost estimate to complete Phase 1 is $14.3 Million, which would include all costs associated with design and construction of approximately 5.5 miles of Town sewers and sewer laterals that will extend to the property line of 315 parcels.

All benefited homeowners in the Phase 1 area would be responsible for a cost share of the debt to complete the project, even if they choose not to connect to Town sewer. Borrowing costs are currently estimated at $4.3M ($14.3M project cost less $10M grant).  Using current interest rates for borrowing, the individual homeowner cost per parcel/debt repayment would be in the range of $750 to $800 per year for a 30-year payback period.

In addition to the debt repayment cost, homeowners who wish to connect to the Town sewer are responsible for all costs associated with running a sewer lateral from the house to the connection point at the property line. Homeowner costs will vary based on the total length of sewer lateral piping, individual site constraints, and whether a gravity or pump-up system is required. If rock excavation is required, that may also significantly increase costs.

Once a homeowner connects to Town sewer they would be responsible to pay a yearly sewer tax, which is currently $574 for a typical single family home. They would also be assessed a sewer rent charge based on actual water usage, which is approximately $120 for a typical single family home.

The next step in the process as authorized by the Town Board will be for the Engineer to prepare the sewer petition that will go to all parcel owners in Phase 1. A minimum of 51 percent of owners would have to agree before the Town Board can consider approval of the project. 

Once the project is approved, then the Town would undertake steps necessary for bonding approval/authorization (1-2 months), hire a firm for technical surveys and engineering design (10-12 months) and obtain regulatory approval/solicit contractor bids (2-4 months).

Supervisor Gilbert has scheduled a follow-up meeting to discuss recent developments regarding the Hallocks Mill Sewer Project and the next steps. In addition, as requested, the Town’s Bond Counsel will be present at this meeting.

The meeting will take place starting at 6pm on Thursday, October 11th.  The location for the meeting has changed. The meeting will take place at the Albert A. Capellini Community & Cultural Center at 1974 Commerce Street - Room 104 on the 2nd floor.

Project Description:

           The Town is currently studying the feasibility of installing new sewers within the Hallocks Mill Sewer District (HMSD).

           Currently there are 1,400 parcels in the district that are unsewered and do not have the ability to connect to Town sewers.  The unsewered parcels rely on septic systems; many of these systems are in excess of 40 years old, are located on small lots with steep slopes and are within wetland buffers or have other environmental constraints. Since the Town of Yorktown and the HMSD are part of the NYC watershed, septic system failures have the potential to create environmental and public health hazards.

           The Town has a $10M funding commitment from the NYCDEP to undertake a project that will provide sewer service to parcels currently serviced by septic systems.  We are also continuing to review available funding opportunities from other sources.

           In 2017 the Town retained GHD Consulting Services Inc. to prepare an engineering report on how new Town sewers could be installed in selected sub-areas. There are approximately 665 parcels in the study area: Broadview Drive (46 parcels), Birch Street (342 parcels), Carolina (23 parcels), Ridge Street (164 parcels), Sparkle Lake (65 parcels) and Sunrise Street (26 parcels). 

• For an area map of the HMSD with the sub-areas identified, click here.
• For a copy of the GHD Engineering Report, April 2018 Draft, click here.
• For a map of the sub-areas that show proposed sewer lines, click here.
• For a listing of all the parcels in the study areas, click here.
• For the Status Update Report presented to Town Board on 6/12/2018, click here