Lewiston Town Board hears comments on 5/4 Development project

Town’s water treatment plant facing major repairs

By Terry Duffy

Editor-in-Chief

Lewiston Town Board members had an active work session Monday, with more than a few interesting news items. Included was a public hearing for the 5/4 Development President’s Park apartment complex, under consideration for Washington Drive between Madison and Jefferson avenues.

Also, discussion on a proposed engineering study to determine a potential overhaul of the Lewiston Water Pollution Control Center on Pletcher Road; a bid approval for work at the new Riverfront Park on Lower River and Pletcher roads; and news on a public hearing to discuss the town’s code enforcement laws and possible changes.

Development

A much-discussed issue, 5-4 Development applied to the Lewiston Planning Board last year seeking a negative declaration and a concept site plan review for new residential units. If approved by the Town Board, the applicant could move forward with a 210-unit expansion of seven buildings to an existing complex of 168 apartment residences approved earlier by the town, covering 23 acres.

The proposal has been met with resistance from neighboring residents along Creek and Swann roads, including the 800-member-plus 3F Conservation Society Inc. sportsmen’s club on Swann Road.

On Monday, six spoke and expressed their concerns to Town Board members, each opposed to the plan.

David Montante of the 3F Club vented opposition, citing the impact on the town’s 1970s-era water treatment plant due to added use from residential growth.

“The sewage treatment plant cannot handle it,” he said. “We have a world-class fishery here; they are allowed to dump raw sewage into that river during a heavy rainfall.”

“The other issue: traffic is out of control,” he said. “Another issue: the 3F Club will lose use of several hundred feet of their property for firearms discharge. … Why is it necessary to place people that close to our property? We’re losing that use of our property when we’ve had it for many years without any issues at all.”

Liz Coffey, a Town of Porter resident and secretary of the 3F, spoke further on the impact.

“My concerns … are what this type of unit and property will do to the (3F) property that we have (owned) since the 1940s,” she said. “The way that the (5/4 Development) property is butting up against the 3F property, it is in an area that is near our rifle range, which has huge concerns for us. We have the appropriate-sized berms; we have the appropriate footage from where we shoot to where our property line is.

“As a mother and an educator, my mind knows that that’s not going to stop a curious child from exploring in the woods,” she said.

Coffey also mentioned the impact to wildlife habitat that’s found on the 400-acre 3F property.

“That’s going to have negative effects on the habitats of that wildlife that live in that area,” she said.

Coffey said that, despite a 250-foot change in 5/4 Development’s initial site expansion concept to address the wildlife concerns, the 3F is still faced with modifying its own land uses.

“That still inhibits us to make sure that we are an additional 250 feet into our own property more than what we were, so that we’re within that 500-feet appropriate range,” she said. “So, I have concerns about that. I am a Porter resident, but I travel quite a bit through the Town of Lewiston. I have concerns about the traffic, about the sewage.”

She closed by asking town officials questions on the status of expected state DOT traffic studies for Creek Road and operation studies concerning the WPCC on Pletcher Road. In response, Supervisor Steve Broderick announced the public hearing would be closed. There was no action on the proposal taken by the Town Board.

“We wanted to hear what everybody had to say, and that’s it,” Broderick said.

Water treatment plant

Jeff Ritter, administrator of Lewiston WPCC, presented a request to approve $27,100 in funding to further an engineering study by GHD Consulting for potential replacement of a digester unit at the plant.

Ritter said a routine inspection was done to address a leak in the digester, with a temporary fix of epoxy cement.

“The digesters were always scheduled for an overhaul since they’ve been in service since the late ’70s. Only one of the two has ever been cleaned or empty,” he said. “I contacted GHD, as they have engineers and staff who are well-versed in digest, their rehab and replacement in water treatment plants. This also coincides with the town’s capital five-year plan, so I wanted to find out how much this was going to cost to continue with this project and determine what the costs will be.”

“This is a huge job,” Ritter said. “I feel like this is an imminent threat, and the fact is if we have a catastrophic failure, it’s going to cost a lot of money. So, I would really like to meet the challenge head-on and start moving toward replacement or rehab of our digester and our grit removal system.”

Ritter said the GHD study would help the town determine the overall cost and next steps. He advised board members this project could end up being a repair costing “millions of dollars” to Lewiston and the tri-community users of the WPCC, including the Town of Porter, villages of Lewiston and Youngstown, and hamlet of Ransomville.

Ritter estimated Lewiston’s share of the cost, based on its use, could be as much as 57%, with the other communities being less impacted.

Soon after, the board approved the $27,100 request for the GHD study. Funding will come from the municipality’s WPCC SS-1 account.

Wrapping up

•More funding approvals came later in the session, for the town’s new Riverfront Park that is still in progress.

“Last week, we received our bids for the new Riverfront Park pavilion and fishing pier bed,” Broderick said. “This is a Greenway project (that) we already received funding (for).”

After reviewing the numbers, the Town Board went on to approve a $987,850 bid by Murdoch Development for concrete masonry – the lowest of four bids received. Broderick said the three remaining bids were over $1 million each.

•The board also approved a public hearing to consider changes to the town’s code enforcement law. The hearing will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 29, at Town Hall, prior to the board’s regular meeting.