Published: April 25, 2008 08:27 am         

Letters for April 24, 2008

Wait for inspections

A moratorium should be placed on sewer district formation until the remaining 15 to 35 (no one knows the exact number) un-inspected camps in the proposed district are evaluated. Thirty percent of the camps have not been evaluated, according to the local inspector.

Projections are used to estimate user costs and the rationale for establishment of the district.

It should also be stated clearly that by law anyone residing in the sewer district will pay a significant annual fee if they are hooked up or not. Users will pay more but all will pay. No one knows how much and no one knows what the annual increases will be. It is likely any district would have to expand over time to cover ever-increasing costs for self-perpetuation. Two years ago a sewer district proposed on the east end of Oneonta was voted down by a large margin for those reasons. Many homeowners with approved systems understandably do not want to be ``double-billed.’’ The real problem of sewer district formation on Otsego Lake is too complicated to be solved by the approach currently underway. Mr. Mc- Intyre has worked tirelessly to create a partial solution and he should be given credit, but until a comprehensive, “whole Lake” solution is addressed, the divisive Hickory Grove Sewer District should be tabled.

The Town of Otsego and its residents should not be pressured to implement an expedient, unfair and inadequate solution.

With over 5,000 in the Otsego Lake Watershed, all or some of the costs of protecting this national, regional and local treasure could be distributed fairly. As the headwater for Chesapeake Bay watershed and the entire Susquehanna River, federal and state funding could be obtained to aid in funding and maintaining a complete solution for Otsego Lake, including construction of new sewers and a shared septic upgrade.

The Biological Field Station has installed advanced sewage treatment technologies, and through an educational partnership with SUNY Delhi, has a Wastewater Management program that could become a national model program while taking care of the Lake, which is a priority for everyone. With the expressed support of Sen. Seward and Congressman Arcuri, lasting solutions to water quality issues could become a reality. The Otsego County Conservation Association (OCCA), directed by Erik Miller, has examined these and related issues, and could be instrumental in moving from the currently proposed unfair and abbreviated solution to one that is comprehensive and equitable.

Doug Hallberg Springfield

Sewer plant a bad idea

I live in the proposed sewer district and have an approved system which I had installed last summer. It cost less than $7,000 dollars to install.

This is way under the estimates given by the town engineering.

It’s a good deal compared to the proposed sewer plant. I think the entire population of the town will end up paying through the nose for a project like this. The board has already spent a lot of taxpayers’ money to just investigate this foolish idea.

Why do taxpayers from all over the town stand for spending their money this way?

Cliff Forman

Town of Otsego