Proposed Dundee facility may be downsized

Proposed Dundee facility may be downsized

DUNDEE--Mayor Fred Cratsley announced during the Tuesday, Jan. 14 village board meeting the proposed $1 million composting facility will likely have to be downsized due to increased costs associated with the proposed wastewater treatment plant. The village received a letter from the state Department of Environmental Conservation in December informing them that the new wastewater treatment plant will require increased ammonia filtration during the summer.
"There is no change with the mulch facility, not as we speak right now... It's something that we have to determine as the numbers come in, it might just make the building smaller and the loader and excavator might become smaller machines. The idea behind it will remain with the purpose of making money for the municipality," Cratsley said.
While the new ammonia limits for the summer are forcing alterations to the composting facility, Cratsley said that the timing of the limits actually works well for the village.
"The permit and percent removals put on us wasn't a surprise, and thanks to the DEC they got to us early enough that we were able to incorporate it into the project before construction and not after construction. We have a very good working relationship with the DEC that I am happy for," Cratsley said.
After the meeting Cratsley gave an update on the multi-million dollar wastewater treatment plant, saying that the Seneca Indian Nation and the Seneca Cayuga Indian Nation had no comment on the project. During the December meeting Cratsley said that they could not accept a bid on the wastewater treatment plant until the two nations were given the opportunity to comment on the project. (This is a requirement of the DEC). Since neither nation submitted any comments, Cratsley said the project will be awarded at next month's board meeting.
"This will allow us to accept a bid for construction of the project at our next meeting in February," Cratsley said.
The board also voted to accept the retirement of Howard Sautter, chief operator at the current waste water plant, and then to rehire him in a part-time capacity at the same hourly rate.
"Rehiring him allows us to operate the plant legally while two of our employees go through the process to get certified as a wastewater treatment operator," Cratsley said.
The entire board shared their praise for Sautter, and thanked him for coming back part time.
With the village election coming up in March, Trustees Judy Duquette and Lawrence Howell announced they will run for re-election. Theirs are the only two seats up for re-election. Currently no one else has registered to run against Duquette and Howell.