JOHNSON WATER BOND PASSES 47 - 10

by AJ de Saint Phalle

JOHNSON - When the polls closed on "Article 1" of the Special Village
Meeting, the legal voters of the Village of Johnson had approved a
$4,250,000 bond for proposed water system improvements. The bond's
passage on a vote of 47 to 10 means the Village trustees will be able to
proceed with their "10 years in the making," $280,000 (to date)
comprehensive plan to improve the local water system.
The first order of business will be the $100,000 purchase of an 11 acre
site at the end of Wescom Road owned by Sheldon and Beverly Osgood. It
is there that a new water supply well was located, drilled and tested
(safely yielding 276 gallons per minute) in 2003 -2004. The well will
need "final development" as well as the construction of a filtration
plant for manganese removal.
Also planned is the replacement of 18,750 feet of water mains and
hydrants, and construction of a new 350,000 gallon storage reservoir for
improved domestic water and fire service in the village. Improvements to
the Nadeau well will safeguard that source as a back-up supply. Two
existing water booster pump stations will be replaced, as will all
customer water meters. The new meters can be scanned remotely for
billing purposes, which will save the village a significant amount on
labor costs. The French Hill impoundment and filtration building will be
abandoned.
A large piece of the financing puzzle will be provided, hopefully, by
the anticipated maximum grant award of 75% of project costs by the USDA
Rural Development agency. Word on whether or not the application is
approved should be received by the end of the year. The remaining costs
would be funded by a 40 year loan at 4.25% provided by the water Supply
Division of the Agency of Natural Resources.
The village trustees have promised their 354 customers, of whom 288 are
residential, that the current $205 annual average village water bill for
a single family would not be allowed to exceed the statewide average of
$350. Should the USDA Rural Development grant fall short of
expectations, the trustees plan to scale back the project as needed to
hold the line at $350. A worst case scenario would involve an effort to
interconnect the test well on the Osgood property with the existing,
problem-riddled system, which loses an estimated 40,000 gallons a day to
leaky mains and under-reporting meters.
If all goes well with the financing, it is expected that work will begin
in the spring of 2005 and hopefully be wrapped up by this time next fall.
The summer of 2005 promises to be a trying time for motorists with the
scheduled replacement of the Railroad Street bridge and the efforts of
the Main Street Project all coinciding with the massive water
improvement project. Looking on the bright side, USDA Rural Development
will be matching every local dollar with $3 in federal funding and the
10 out of 20 village fire hydrants which currently are virtually dry,
may actually permit effective fire department use by next fall.