Finance plan for Frankfort water district hits snag

FRANKFORT – A plan to finance a new water district for the area of Center and Zolad roads recently took an unexpected turn, according to Town Supervisor Glenn Asnoe.

Several months ago the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development offered the town a plan that included a $765,000 loan and a $600,000 grant for the project to bring water from the Mohawk Valley Water Authority to a portion of the West Frankfort area. USDA representatives told Asnoe and Town Councilmen John Wallace, who has spearheaded the effort, that those figures could change if the town had the quality of the well water in that area tested.

The testing was held up due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but was recently conducted and the terms of the loan were extended until Aug. 3. The test results sent to USDA’s Rural Water Program in the hope that the finance package could be amended to include a larger grant and smaller loan.

“Unbeknownst to us, in July the money for New York State goes back into the U.S. pool,” said Asnoe. “Now our application has to compete with all the ones in the U.S. pool.”

He added that town officials are still hopeful the project will receive the funding. “The people we’ve been working with think we have a strong application. The need is there.”

Herkimer County Industrial Development Agency Executive Director John Piseck suggested the town could also seek a grant from the Northern Borders Regional Commission to help reduce the cost to residents of the new district.

The town board voted in 2016 to hire BCA Engineers and Architects of Watertown to design a project to supply water to the West Frankfort area after residents of the area complained to the board about lack of water or poor quality water. BCA’s plan calls for dividing the West Frankfort area into three separate water districts.

The town is still working to bring water to the first district, but hopes to form districts in the other areas as well.