COUNTY

Well testing completed for Frankfort water district

Donna Thompson
donna@timestelegram.com
In 2001, the town of Frankfort started the process to form a water district in West Frankfort. An engineering study took two years and was followed by another couple of years doing the work required to set up a water district. The permits were canceled in 2005 due to litigation.

FRANKFORT – The town of Frankfort is moving ahead with plans to bring municipal water to the West Frankfort area while taking steps officials hope will bring down the cost to residents of the new water district.

The town had the well water in the area of Center and Zolad roads tested in the hope of improving the finance package.

“The testing was completed last week,” Councilman John Wallace said when reached by telephone Monday evening. “As we thought, the wells had some issues. We’re hopeful that will help with our ability to get more grant money and a smaller loan.”

BCA Architects and Engineers, of Watertown, the firm the town hired in 2016 to design a project to supply water to the West Frankfort area, arranged for the testing and sent the samples to the Mohawk Valley Water Authority, said Town Supervisor Glenn Asnoe. “We just got the test results back Thursday.” Those results were sent to the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development’s Rural Water program.

Asnoe and Wallace met with representatives of USDA Rural Development several months ago and were offered a finance plan that included a $765,000 loan and a $600,000 grant for the water district.

They were also told that those figures could change if the town conducted water quality testing in that area. If the results showed contamination, the town could receive a higher grant and a lower interest rate on the loan.

Water testing was held up due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Asnoe said, and the terms of the loan have been extended until Aug. 3.

“It’s been a long road,” said Wallace, adding that bringing municipal water to West Frankfort could help bring more development to the area. “We’ve got nice buildable land there. Not every place can say that.”

The town started working on plans to bring water from the Mohawk Valley Water Authority to the West Frankfort area after residents complained about lack of water or poor quality water. BCA’s plan calls for dividing the West Frankfort area into three separate water districts. Wallace hopes districts can be formed in the other two areas as well.

The town had attempted to form a water district in West Frankfort, starting the process in 2001. An engineering study took two years and was followed by another couple of years doing the work required to set up a water district.

The permits were canceled in 2005 when the Mohawk Valley Water Authority became involved in litigation with the Canal Corporation regarding Hinckley Reservoir. The parties reached an agreement in 2013, giving the Authority the rights to use up to 48.5 million gallons of water a day from Hinckley Reservoir, ending a nearly eight-year-long legal dispute.