$100 thousand state grant makes Caledonia water project
easier to swallow

   Just about a year ago the Village of Caledonia was notified that it would have to abandon its local water system and connect to the Monroe County Water Authority to supply water to its 1,000 customers. As the village investigated the process of decommissioning the 100-year old hand-dug wells and connecting to the MCWA line already in place on the west side of the village, it soon became clear that it was going to cost the village about $100,000 to complete. Mayor Joe Caluorie met with state Sen. Dale Volker, R-N.Y. 59th District, to talk about possible state grant funding to help with the costs and wrote the official request. Recently, Volker’s office notified the mayor that the request was approved and the village will be receiving $100,000, which is expected to cover virtually all of the costs associated with the water project.

   "Receiving the state grant funding will definitely take the sting out of this process for our taxpayers. We appreciate Sen. Volker’s assistance with our request," the mayor commented.

   The Livingston County Health Department was the local agency who last year passed down the information to the village regarding a recent EPA regulation that identified the Village of Caledonia well water as "ground water under influence," or GWUI, meaning that the well is under significant risk for surface contamination because of its location and shallow depth. The USEPA placed water supplies that are GWUI, under a regulation called, "Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule.

   Mayor Caluorie, Water and Street Supervisor Chris Buckley and J.P. Schepp, engineer for the village began talks with Cathy Muscarella, executive director of Livingston County Water and Sewer Authority, and representatives of the MCWSA, to determine the details and estimate the costs associated with the project.

   "The LCWSA purchases water from MCWA and sells it wholesale to the village at $1.83 cents per thousand gallons," Muscarella says.

   The LCWSA owns the water lines on Rt. 5 in the village and has a connection there to the MC water line. The water will come from Lake Ontario via this line, located near the Caledonia water tower. LCWSA also owns a parallel water line running down Spring Street to Mumford.

   Customers will not notice any change in service, Buckley says, except in the water quality, which will have noticeably less mineral content. The village DPW will continue to maintain the pipes, conduct sample tests, read meters and bill customers for their water usage.

   From the customer’s point of view, the switch is seamless, however, there is much preparation work to be completed and that is where the grant funding will make the whole project a little easier for taxpayers to swallow. The existing wells will have to be disconnected from the water lines, new lines installed in some cases and additional meters placed on some properties that were not billed for their water consumption, such as churches in the community. The village and the health department are still in the process of reaching an agreement on how exactly to shut down two of the village’s three wells. Caluorie says he would like to see the village keep one of the wells for non-potable purposes for use in emergency situations.

   "I am addressing this with state and local authorities and have received calls of support from other county and town leaders. With the major water supply problems that face some states, it doesn’t make sense to destroy a natural water supply that produces 500 gallons a minute," Caluorie explained.

   The air stripper, which is located inside the water treatment building on Park Place, will no longer be needed. Caluorie says the village will dismantle it and sell it for scrap metal. In the meantime, the DPW continues its work on meters and lines to get ready for the projected September switch over to MCWA for customers in the Village of Caledonia.