Millions needed for Wickham Sewer District upgrades

The town of Warwick is moving forward in its efforts to provide much-needed improvements to the Wickham Sewer District. The Wickham Sewer District wastewater treatment plant, which serves Kings Estates, Wickham Village, and the businesses located at the former prison property, requires about $11 to $13 million in upgrades, Warwick Town Supervisor Jesse Dwyer shared at the March 14 Warwick Town Board meeting.

Supervisor Dwyer explained that when the district included the prison property, the state took on a large portion of the payment and management of the sewer plant. He added that the costs now fall largely on the residents and businesses in the district.

“It’s going to be a very tricky process, a lengthy process and, unfortunately, a costly process,” said Dwyer.

The town is looking to offset the costs for improvements to the sewer district via funding from Water Infrastructure Improvement (WIIA) grant provided by the state. During the town board meeting, the board accepted the proposal from Delaware Engineering, which will provide the necessary improvements to the district and submit the grant application on the town’s behalf.

On a related matter, the supervisor shared that several residents of Kings Estates reached out to him to express their anger at their private water utility, which has reportedly raised their rates in excess of 20%. Dwyer emphasized the board is doing whatever it can to help the residents with that costly situation.

The board also acknowledged the concerns of residents on and around Oil City Road and adopted a resolution to file a request to the New York State Department of Transportation to lower the speed limit on the road from 40 mph to 30 mph.

During the meeting, the Warwick Town Board shared its efforts to improve town parks. This includes water remediation, water infiltration protection, and other projects to be performed at Mountain Lake Park as well as making much-needed repairs to and improving the accessibility of Airport Park.

In addition, Dwyer announced that construction on the bike/hiking trail connecting Cascade Lake Park with the Orange County park by Hickory Hills is set to begin this summer. Dwyer noted that this project is the fruition of an effort that began 20 years ago with the securing of a federally funded grant.

In addition, the board scheduled two public hearings on matters of tax exemption and housing, respectively. Both meetings are set to be held on March 28. The first hearing is to introduce a new local law that would amend the current tax code to allow un-remarried spouses of deceased volunteer firefighters and EMS workers, who were homeowners, to continue to receive the real property tax exemptions afforded by their spouses’ volunteer membership in the Town of Warwick’s fire and ambulance districts. The second hearing is for the consideration of projects to be submitted for Housing and Urban Development funding through Orange County Community Development. In a related matter, the Warwick Town Board adopted a resolution at the March 14 meeting establishing its support of and efforts to ensure fair and non-discriminatory housing for all.