Pictured L-R: John Lloyd, Pierre Chagnon, Joelle Washer
A very in-depth conversation about the future of the South & Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer districts was the main focus of today's meeting. John Lloyd introduced County Legislator Pierre Chagnon to the podium to give the club an update on plans to upgrade the sewers surrounding Chautauqua Lake, and the reasons for it.
Pierre is a member of the South & Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer Districts Administrative Board, and provided the club with many details on the scope of work involved with extending the sewer lines, building new facilities to handle the sewage, and how it will all be incorporated into the existing system.
The main reason this must happen, according to Chagnon, is so that the level of phosphates currently getting into Chautauqua Lake is drastically reduced (in fact, 95% of phosphates must be removed from any processed sewage getting back into the lake). Removing phosphates from Chautauqua Lake will help in limiting the amount of weeds that grow each year, which will in turn help the lake stay healthy for many more years to come.
Of course this all comes at a cost, much of which has been covered by a $5 million from the DEC, and through a 0% interest rate loan for $14 million. An additional $3 million grant to cover the remaining costs is in the works from Empire State Development. These grants and the low interest loan will help keep the cost for those on the system and using the sewers from raising exponentially.
There will also be an effort made to get over 200 vacant parcels surrounding Chautauqua Lake hooked up to the sewer system so that these pieces of land would be more attractive for new homes being built on them. And grants to help home owners connect to the system via their existing plumbing are also available.
Pierre said that work on the project is slated to begin in 2019, and the new systems should be fully operational by 2020.