Warwick joins call to keep Exit 127 open

The Warwick Village Board, at its August 5 meeting, passed a new local law that will amend the water section of the village code. Trustee Barry Cheney, who chaired the meeting in Mayor Michael Newhard’s absence, explained that the main revision to the law eliminated the requirement that properties that utilize a lawn or landscape irrigation system have a floor drain that doesn’t normally exist in residences. Under the new code, property owners with such irrigation systems must install a double-check valve assembly, which prevents water from going back into the village system if water pressure is lost. Other changes to the code include allowing property owners to have billing directed to a tenant.

The village continues to push its “Let’s Get the Lead Out!” initiative to encourage residents to examine their lead service lines and share their findings. Cheney explained that the lead service line is the one that goes from the water main in the street and into the home and that conducting the inventory to understand what materials are used in these lines will position the village for future grants. These grants may be used for lead line replacement in the future.

“Your help will allow the village to be able to move this forward more efficiently in terms of the data collection and the confirmation process that we have to go through,” said Cheney.

Cheney reminded residents that they should have received a postcard with instructions on how to determine the material of their water service lines and how to report that information to the village, and encouraged them to contact the water billing clerk at Village Hall if they had any questions or needed assistance. He shared that the village had already received about 35 responses from customers within days of receiving the postcard.

Transportation

The village has accepted a $406,167 grant from the United States Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration for the purpose of improving local street safety. Trustee Carly Foster explained that the grant would be used for two scopes of work: one focusing on the village and the other focusing on the broader town of Warwick and its included villages and hamlets. The village scope will involve the “Slow Down Warwick” campaign, which, Foster shared, will be a partnership with the artist community and the (to be hired) transportation planner.

“We are going to be selecting 10 locations in the village that are particularly high risk for collisions and other infractions either due to speeding or failing to obey stop signs and so on and so forth. What we will be doing is putting out signage or street paintings or other activities that will hopefully catch drivers’ attention,” Foster shared, noting that a village transportation study revealed that most vehicle-related incidents within and outside of the village were due to driver behavior. A recent survey of law enforcement and emergency service members conducted by The Warwick Advertiser also came to that conclusion.

The second scope, Foster explained, would be to develop a town-wide transportation safety action plan. This will involve hiring a transportation planner and extensive community engagement to assess the overall mobility for the town and address car, cyclist, and pedestrian safety.

Foster shared that these projects would enable the village to pursue additional federal funding for street safety projects.

In other transportation news, the village board approved a resolution requesting the state DOT to maintain Exit 127 in its plans to convert Route 17 into Interstate-86. In the resolution the village expressed its concern that closing the exit will delay motorists from entering Chester, Sugar Loaf and the greater Warwick area and cause a significant traffic increase at Exit 126.

The town of Chester has also come out against the exit’s closure and sent a resolution objecting to the plan to the state DOT. The municipality sent copies of that resolution to the villages of Chester and Warwick, the town of Warwick, and to state representatives Assemblyman Brian Maher (R-101) and Senator James Skoufis (D-42).

Expenses

During the meeting, the village approved an increase of $29,400 to the Maple Avenue Water Booster Station Relocation contract with Barton & Loguidice DPC and authorized the mayor to sign the amendment. Cheney explained that the increase was due to additional services provided by the engineering firm that were outside the original scope of the contract. In addition, the village approved an amendment to the Master Services Agreement with Barton & Loguidice at a lump sum of $164,300. The village also accepted a $99,800 bid from Joseph Warren Electrical for its Well #3 Water Treatment Plant Project. The village also accepted a bid from TAM Enterprises in the amount of $1,196,000 for the general contract of the Well #3 Water Treatment Plant Project.