Open space purchase contains water treasure

By Edie Johnson
CHESTER — The long-suffering residents of King Tract may finally get a safe and abundant water supply, thanks to the recent acquisition of nearly 400 acres by the Open Space Institute.

The Institute's main purpose in acquiring the land was to expand the trails network and connect Goosepond and Sterling Forest state parks. But there's plenty of water underneath the parcel, and Chester town officials would like to see some of it go to King Tract. Town residents will vote in the coming months on whether to form a new, town-owned water district for King Tract.

King Tract is among the oldest subdivisions in Chester, built when the town was still a rural, mainly agricultural community. Its well was dug in 1962, about 50 feet from the Seely Brook, which is filling with silt and debris and overflows during bad storms.

Its ancient water pump exploded in 2012, leaving King Tract's 43 houses without their regular water supply for several weeks. Chester officials expressed interest in taking over the water district at that time, but Steve Sherman, who owned the water district, wanted to retain ownership to supply the hundreds of houses he planned to build as part of the Chester Golf development. He agreed to install a modern pump station to replace the exploded one.

But Sherman's property went into foreclosure, with $4 million owed to TD Bank. Sherman died in 2013, more than ten years after he first proposed Chester Golf.

The Open Space Institute bought all of the Chester Golf property except for the small piece on which the pump station sits. Chester Supervisor Alex Jamieson said TD Bank would like turn the pump station property over to the town so they can "make it right" for King Tract.

Years of trouble
Meanwhile, King Tract residents were showing up at nearly every town board meeting with some new problem, either with their water supply or their sewer service. They've also suffered from floods and sewage overflows over the years, especially during Hurricane Irene in 2011.

They said their bills skyrocketed to pay for $17,000 worth of upgrades that Sherman planned to make to the system but never did. Residents also filed a notice of claim against the town for not managing its wetlands to protect homeowners from floods.

The town board recently held a two-hour problem-solving session with King Tract homeowners to see if they wanted the town to take over their water district, or have a drilling company determine whether homeowners would be able to have own, private wells. Town engineer Al Fusco talked about some preliminary explorations he'd made. But most of the 24 homeowners present preferred town control. Many were put off by the cost of private wells, which can run from $4,000 to $7,000. And some of the properties might not connect to the aquifer or have enough distance from their septic system for a well.

Some King Tract homes have private septic systems, but most tie into the Moodna system.

It will cost the town about $500,000 to upgrade the pump station. King Tract residents would pay about $700 per year over the next 25 years for the upgraded system, in addition to their regular water costs. Jamieson said grants or loans at zero percent interest might be available.

The town's engineering department will continue to test sites to determine where private wells might be an option.

The Walton Lake option
Some residents suggested looking once again at connecting King Tract to the Walton Lake water district for a low-cost solution, and Fusco agreed to look into it. But Walton Lake has its own problems, including excess manganese. And one resident said the interconnecting pipeline would need to be a mile long. Savings might therefore be minimal with this option.

Just 'thanks' for now
Jamieson said the town is extraordinarily grateful to the Open Space Institute for its generous gift, which he said was the culmination of years of work by numerous preservation groups and many meetings with TD Bank. He said he will ask the Institute whether easements allowing additional access to the property's rich aquifer would be possible, whether pipelines can be run through a portion of the property, and whether the town will be able to access some of the other wellheads just outside the pump station lots.

But for now, Jamieson said, the town doesn't want to press the Institute too hard — it just wants to say thank you.

"This gift not only protects threatened and endangered wildlife species, it connects two important trail systems and will offer a lot of enjoyment to locals as well as to people from other places," he said. "There has been a lot of growth in Chester, and both industrial parks are almost built out. This will provide a nice balance."

He said the Institute already has an agreement with the Palisades Interstate Park System to ensure that the entire property becomes part of the greater New York State parks system.