Town of Lewiston to conduct sewer testing in Morgan Farms

Liquid smoke testing to detect groundwater inflows

√ Broderick announces funding for village

By Terry Duffy

Editor-in-Chief

Drainage news topped a relatively busy Lewiston Town Board work session last week.

Jeff Ritter, administrator of the Lewiston Water Pollution Control Center, announced plans to conduct smoke testing of sewer lines in the Morgan Farms neighborhood. The testing is expected to focus on groundwater infiltrations.

“Morgan Farms has been plagued by water problems for a long time,” he said. “So, in an effort to find out where the groundwater is entering the sanitary sewer, we’d like to initiate some smoke testing of the sanitary sewer in the Morgan Farms neighborhood.”

Ritter went on to explain the procedure, which involves the introduction of liquid smoke into the sewer system. He said the purpose of using smoke would be to expose any cracks in an individual residential sewer, allowing groundwater to enter. Ritter likened the smoke product to that used during a rock concert or magic show to create visual effects. He categorized the procedure, which utilizes non-toxic materials and has no offensive smell, as being safe for the public.

“It would show us where the water ends up getting into the sanitary sewer. The public needs to know that the smoke is nontoxic,” Ritter said. During testing, however, there is the possibility of smoke entering the sewer lines of individual residences during the tests.

“It’s nontoxic, non-offensive smelling, and it will not affect the health of those who smell it. But what it will do is that it will detect potential defects, sources of infiltration in the sewer system and expose faulty sewer connections,” he said.

Ritter noted plans to notify all affected Morgan Farms residents before testing gets underway.

“We looking to put out some postings on Facebook and the town’s website, with a letter of intent, and a material safety data sheet, which shows the chemical makeup of the smoke. And before we start, I will hand-deliver (this information) to everyone in the neighborhood,” he said.

Town Engineer Rob Lannon said that smoke testing is part of an ongoing effort by the town to get a better handle on how sewers function in the neighborhood and determine what corrective measures may be needed. He mentioned a data collection project the town conducted on how sewer lines perform during recent rainstorms and said that, overall, it found lines were functioning as they should.

“We did dry weather and a recent rainstorm (test) through the sewer line. (It drained) about an inch and a half an hour and I’m told we got about 2 inches in that rainstorm,” Lannon said. “We’re about three weeks into a three-month collection period; but so far, so good.”

Lannon said additional sewer studies in Morgan Farms included photo surveys of drainage problem areas in town right-of-ways. He said some blockage areas were found and the town is considering some computer modeling for correcting sewer flows.

Supervisor Steve Broderick said, “Councilman (Rob) Morreale and myself were there that day; (we) definitely saw some issues up there. Hopefully, they can be resolved.”

In other news from the session:

•The town clerk’s office reported a special election held Oct. 15 on a service awards program covering members of the Lewiston No. 2, Upper Mountain and Sanborn volunteer fire companies was approved by town voters, 69-0.

“That’s good news for our firemen and the support of our firemen,” Broderick said.

In a related area, the town announced a modified agreement of firefighter incentives with the Village of Lewiston for members of Lewiston No. 1 Fire Co. Town Attorney Al Bax said the new measure provides the town “would pay the village each year a sum equal to $300, multiplied by the number of vested firefighters of the fire company.”

The Village Board approved its portion of the agreement on Monday.

Announcing his support, Councilman John Jacoby, a retired Niagara Falls firefighter, said, “This goes a long way to attracting (new members), giving them something for the work they do.”

The measure went on to be approved unanimously by the Town Board.

•Broderick reported on a new town funding measure to assist the Village of Lewiston on electrical upgrades in the Red Brick Municipal Building. “I was in the village office paying my water bill. And they mentioned that the electric in the building needed an upgrade for about five of six years. Every time they put in the budget, money has to go somewhere else,” Broderick said.

Broderick went on to present a resolution where the town, through funding from its sales of 6.5 megawatts of low-cost power, provided to Lewiston by New York Power Authority licensing agreements, would provide the village up to $150,000 to complete the upgrades. The measure was unanimously approved.

•Bax reported the town has reached agreement with operators of the Niagara Pumpkin Farm on Townline Road to permit operations for the Halloween season. Bax said the town, which responded to complaints by neighbors that Niagara Pumpkin was operating in violation of town code enforcement, has chosen to pull back on previously filed legal action and, instead, allow the business to operate this fall, deferring code enforcement until 2026.

A Town Board resolution on the matter from Morreale and Jacoby was approved.

The measure calls on Niagara Pumpkin to submit a new site plan application to the Lewiston Planning Board and fulfill its various application requirements in order to operate for 2026. In addition, the measure places limits on the business operation this fall. Included are an 8 p.m. closing, restricted parking on Townline Road, self-governing by the applicant of its operations, and checks by town officials.