BROADALBIN - Village officials discussed Tuesday the final steps of the two-year project to provide water hookups for town residents on Union Mills Road.
Town Supervisor Joseph DiGiacomo addressed the Village Board in the closing minutes of its meeting Tuesday to show them the town law that would require the homeowners to pay for the state Department of Health inspections of their new water connections.
Village officials agreed with the revision of the town law, but Village Trustee Lawrence Cornell said the change needed to be made in a joint addendum so the town can't make changes without the village's OK.
"They can go in - not these guys, maybe five years from now - and somebody doesn't remember why they did it and say, 'Why are we doing this? We can change this so the village has to do it,'" Cornell said. "We don't want things like that to get changed later, since we spent a lot of time putting it together now."
He said the town law could still be changed if the attorney has a better idea of how it should be worded.
The Town Board will change the town law to recognize that village officials have to approve any changes made in the law.
The Department of Health required all the Union Mills Road hookups to have valve systems that will keep residents' village water separate from their well water. Many residents want to maintain their wells despite the past salt contamination that prompted the construction of a new water line in the first place. More than 10 years ago, officials discovered road salt from the town's storage shed was contaminating wells at 20 homes and Town Hall. The town has been paying for bottled water for the residents, but officials decided the most cost-effective solution would be to extend the village water line to serve those homes.
John Borgolini can be reached by email at ruralnews@leaderherald.com.