Officials cut the ribbon on the completion of Phase One of the West Side Sewer Expansion Project (June 12, 2023)

Officials cut the ribbon Monday in Stow on Phase 1 of the Westside Sewer Extension.

The $16.9 million project brings sewer and water along Route 394 from Ashville to Stow and services approximately 450 developed properties in the Town of North Harmony.

Chautauqua County Legislature Chairman and South & Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer District Board member Pierre Chagnon said the project began nine and a half years ago when then County Executive Vince Horrigan put together a steering group to look at options for putting in public sewers around Chautauqua Lake,  “Nine years ago this month was the first meeting of the project team, working with the O’Brien and Gere Engineering Team, to begin developing the integrated sewage management plan for Chautauqua Lake. The integrated sewage management plan was completed in October of 2014. And the highest priority in that plan was given to completing the sewers on the westside of the lake.”

South & Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer District Board member Tom Erlandson had done two surveys in the 1960s and 1980s to ask homeowners about putting sewers around Chautauqua Lake.

He said sewering is important not just for the lake but for public health as well, “It will remove septic tanks from near people’s wells. 41%, in my surveys around the lake, 41% of the houses were contaminating their own wells with their own sewage.”

Phase one of the project was financed through a combination of grants and New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation Clean Water State Revolving Fund funding at a rate of zero percent for 30 years.

Officials plan to break ground on Phase 2 of the project in Fall 2024.

Map showing expansion of South Chautauqua Lake Sewer District

The South Chautauqua Lake Sewer District will begin the process this Spring for Phase 2 of the Westside Sewer Extension.

The anticipated schedule for the Phase 2 project is to complete a project survey and design in Spring 2023 to Spring 2024, complete bidding and award a vendor with the construction contract in Summer or Fall 2024, and have construction take place from Winter 2024 through Winter 2026.

Phase 2 of the Westside Sewer Extension involves extending the district along Route 394 from the Hamlet of Stow to approximately Prendergast Creek, where the North Chautauqua Lake Sewer District (NCLSD) service area begins, and west along Davis Road from Route 394 to Camp Prendergast.

The $24 million project was awarded a $6 million in Water Infrastructure Improvement Grants from the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation in November 2022.

The County anticipates financing the project through a combination of state and federal grants and New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation Clean Water State Revolving Fund funding.

The sewer extension will service approximately 520 parcels along a 3.6-mile stretch of Route 394 in the Towns of North Harmony and Chautauqua.

SCLSD initiated Phase 1 of the Westside Sewer Extension in 2017 to extend the SCLSD to the Hamlet of Stow. Construction of the Phase 1 facilities is ongoing, and work is anticipated to be complete in early 2024.

For more information, visit: https://chqgov.com/water-and-sewer-districts/west-side-sewer-extension-phase-2.

Map showing expansion of South Chautauqua Lake Sewer District

Phase Two of the Westside Sewer Extension project has been awarded $6 million in Water Infrastructure Improvement Grants from New York State.

The funding is coming from the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation and is part of $300 million announced by Governor Kathy Hochul for water infrastructure improvements across the state.

The South and Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer Districts approved the second phase of the project in June with the maximum cost of it being $24 million.

Construction of Phase 1 of the project started in 2021 and will extend the district to the Hamlet of Stow. It is anticipated to be complete in 2023.

Phase 2 will extend the Districts from the Hamlet of Stow to the North Chautauqua Lake Sewer District border, near Prendergast Creek.

The Phase 2 Extension will be comprised of properties on the western shore of the Lake in the Towns of North Harmony and Chautauqua, generally along New York State Route 394. The wastewater collection and conveyance facilities will extend the public sewer and provide direct benefit to the estimated 350 developed parcels. The area is currently serviced by private septic systems and individually maintained by the corresponding property owner.

Also receiving $4.02 million in State Environmental Facilities Corporation grant funds is the town of Chautauqua for the Chautauqua Water District No. 2 Water Supply. Chautauqua is also receiving a $50,000 engineering planning grant for the extension of South Sewer District No. 1.

The Town of Chautauqua is also receiving over $1.8 million in interest-free financing from the Environmental Facilities Corporation Board to decommission the Chautauqua Heights Sewer District Treatment Plant. The town will also construct a pump station and force main.

Other municipalities receiving engineering planning grants include the town of Hanover with $36,000 for the Route 5 & 20 Sewer Line Engineering Planning Study; the town of Pomfret receiving $30,000 for a Public Sewer System Extension Study, and the Village of Westfield will receive $40,000 for an Engineering Planning Grant.

A new Grinder Pump installation in Phase 1 area.

Phase 2 of the Westside Sewer Extension project has been approved.

The South and Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer Districts’ Board of Directors approved the map and plan report at its March meeting with the maximum amount to be spent on the project being $24 million.

The South and Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer Districts (SCCLSD) initiated the construction of Phase 1 of the project in 2021. Phase 1 would extend the district to the Hamlet of Stow and it is anticipated to be complete in 2023. Phase 2 is ready to be initiated which will extend the Districts from the Hamlet of Stow to the North Chautauqua Lake Sewer District border, near Prendergast Creek.

Board member and County Legislature Chairman Pierre Chagnon said the Westside Sewer Extension Phase 2 will complete the public sewers on the entire west side of Chautauqua Lake and is another milestone towards this end.

The Phase 2 Extension will be comprised of properties on the western shore of the Lake in the Towns of North Harmony and Chautauqua, generally along New York State Route 394. The proposed wastewater collection and conveyance facilities will extend the public sewer and provide direct benefit to the estimated 350 developed parcels. The area is currently serviced by private septic systems and individually maintained by the corresponding property owner.

Many of these systems are failing or reaching the end of their useful life. These failing systems are a contributor to elevated phosphorus levels within Chautauqua Lake and private water well contamination.

The proposed improvements include the construction of a new low-pressure force main sewer system with approximately 250 grinder-pumping stations. Each developed parcel will be served by a grinder pumping station that connects to the sewer main located along the road of each property. All sanitary waste from each developed parcel would then be pumped to the Wastewater Treatment Facility, located in Celoron. Following the installation and connection to the grinder pumping station, the septic system would then be cleaned and decommissioned.

The proposed Phase 2 project is eligible for State and Federal grant monies including New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Water Quality Improvements Project (WQIP) and New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC)’s Water Infrastructure Act (WIIA) funding. The County would be eligible to apply for a 30-year, interest-free loan through EFC’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund program. The financial aid of these funding agencies will ensure that the Equivalent Dwelling Unit (EDU) cost does not exceed $1,000 per year.