Amenia gets $1.6 million for sewer

AMENIA — It was a  big step  toward an affordable sewer district for Amenia last week when the town learned it will receive $1.6 million in state grant money. The grant is part of a $67 million federal allocation to the New York Clean Water State Revolving Fund, according to a press release from Gov. David Paterson.

The $1.6 million to Amenia will be administered by the state’s Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC). For the first time in 20 years the corporation will offer grants to communities as principal forgiveness to offset construction and lending expenses.

Amenia has been working with developer, Millbrook Ventures, which is getting closer and closer to a construction date for its Silo Ridge Country Club renovation. The town is currently working on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among Amenia, Silo Ridge and Dutchess County to provide sewer access to the town.

Under that agreement, which has not been finalized yet, Silo Ridge would build enough extra capacity in its on-site wastewater treatment plant for the town to use. This agreement would satisfy the developer’s affordable housing requirements for the project.

The town would then be responsible, financially, for setting up the pipes and pumps that would connect the hamlet of Amenia to Silo Ridge’s treatment plant. The town’s Wastewater Committee has been working toward a solution for some time that will be affordable to the town’s residents, and finally settled upon a price of $10.7 million.

The $1.6 grant is a big step toward that final price tag, town Supervisor Wayne Euvrard and Councilwoman Darlene Riemer both said earlier this week. Before her seat on the Town Board, Riemer was chairperson for the Wastewater Committee.

The MOU is still in the works, Riemer and Euvrard pointed out, but the grant brings an Amenia sewer district one step closer to reality.

“This funding represents an important investment in New York’s clean water infrastructure,� Governor Paterson stated in the press release. “For many New York communities, these projects would not be possible without the substantial financial assistance provided to them as principal forgiveness.�

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