Major sewer expansion planned for Chester
CHESTER — The first sign of real progress for the deteriorating Camp LaGuardia campus came this week, when Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus announced plans to extend the county's sewer line to the site.
Neuhaus said Delaware Engineering, D.P.C., will come up with a plan to expand sewer treatment capacity from 6 million to 9 million gallons per day. But it won't be just for Camp LaGuardia.
"The ... plan will serve as an economic development blueprint for potentially developable sites around the county," Neuhaus said in a press release Tuesday.
The lack of sewer service to the 258-acre former Camp LaGuardia site is the main reason it remains undeveloped today, eight years after the county purchased the site for $8.5 million. Mountco Construction and Development Corp. of Scarsdale has for years been trying to get the county and the towns of Blooming Grove and Chester to agree to its plan to build hundreds of houses and a commercial strip on the site.
Mountco and other developers interested in buying the property over the years have said that the project needs to be intensively developed to be economically feasible. Mountco's latest plan calls for more than 600 residences and 100,000 feet of commercial space.
Neuhaus said the additional capacity will help growth — residential, commercial, and industrial — in the Village of Harriman, Town of Harriman, Village of Monroe, Town of Monroe, Village of Kiryas Joel, Village of Chester, Town of Chester, Village of Woodbury, Town of Woodbury, Town of Blooming Grove and Village of South Blooming Grove.
"Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee both strained resources at the Harriman facility, pushing the treatment plant to 95 percent of capacity at one point," Neuhaus said.
Chester okay with expansion
Neuhaus was Chester supervisor during most of time that Mountco had its proposal before the town planning board. He declined to join the lawsuit to stop the expansion, brought against the county by Blooming Grove in 2013. Blooming Grove objected to not being consulted about the county's plans, and the court agreed.
Chester Supervisor Alex Jamieson said he likes the idea of an expanded sewer district — up to a point.
"I'm okay with the expansion at Harriman," he said in an emailed message, referring to the struggling old plant now treating the county's sewage. "I'm concerned when they discuss other options. The county has always looked at the property on Tetz Road as an alternative site, and I will not allow a sewer plant there or anywhere in Chester, and I have the backing of the town board on that. So I will be watching."
Robert Fromaget, the Blooming Grove supervisor, did not respond to requests for comment. Blooming Grove's suit against the county was brought during the administration of his predecessor, Frank Fornario.
The project is in the Monroe-Woodbury School District. Its former superintendent, Terrence Olivo, had expressed concern about accommodating so many new families years ago, when Mountco made its first pitch. Monroe-Woodbury's current superintendent, Elsie Rodriguez, who is serving as interim, declined to comment on the project at this time.
"The district is currently waiting for the results of a demographic study the Board of Education commissioned a couple of months ago," she said in an emailed message. "Once we receive that information I can provide ... a more accurate response."
Mountco doesn't have to wait
Neuhaus said that, under an agreement signed by former County Executive Edward Diana, Mountco does not have to obtain approvals for their project until two years after the county provides "a written guarantee of sewer reasonably acceptable to the developer."
The county legislature agreed in May 2010 to expand the boundaries of Sewer District 1 to the Camp La Guardia property. A $925,000 wastewater facility plan was prepared in 2012.
John Brust, principal of Delaware Engineering, said his firm has experience in Saratoga County, which had "similar infrastructure challenges to accommodate the growth associated with the Global Foundries chip-fab plant.”
Neuhaus said Orange County is growing and must look at ways for the whole county to benefit.
“For example," he said, "Camp La Guardia’s redevelopment contract depends on adequate sewer capacity being available in order to transform the 258-acre property from community eyesore to completed project that is contributing to the local and county tax base. With today’s agreement, we move one step closer to ending the delays and recouping the taxpayer dollars spent by the previous administration to acquire Camp La Guardia.”