Serving the Towns of Wawarsing, Crawford, Mamakating, Rochester and Shawangunk, and everything in between
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Aqueduct Relief?
City & Town Reach Accord; Final Repair Funds To Come Soon

WAWARSING – For some Wawarsing residents, the next few weeks will be anxiously spent at the mailbox, awaiting news they've waited years to hear—that repairs on their homes damaged by the leaking Delaware Aqueduct will be forthcoming.

Those letters, mailed out to the first five homeowners of approximately forty participating in the $5.5 million NYCDEP/Wawarsing Neighborhood Support Program, will explain the next step of the process since their completed inspections months ago. That will include the bidding out of complex jobs to qualified and insured general contractors and signing release forms, releasing the city and town of Wawarsing from any future claims.

The program — to provide repairs to those residents whose homes have been structurally or mechanically damaged as a result of the leaking Delaware aqueduct, as well as the naturally high ground water and poor drainage conditions in the area — had been at a standstill since December as the town and city continued to negotiate key issues.

The town requested that the New York City Department of Environmental Protection reconsider restrictions included in the December memorandum, which included eliminating the financial cap on individual residences and approving mold remediation as well as drainage to control surface water.

In recent weeks, negotiations have turned the corner and now, everyone seems to be in agreement.

"The DEP has done a fine job of meeting us half way," said Mark Blauer of Blauer Associates, the prime contractor for the program, noting that the town board also stood steadfast by their residents...which may have angered residents in the process by taking time, but in the long-run allows the program to work as intended. "It's our position that if you're asking for the absolute release from all potential liability then you have to fix all the problems linked to the aqueduct issues."

As a result of those talks, the cap has been extended from $50,000 a house to $65,000, and issues pertaining to mold remediation and drainage problems — which weren't being considered — will now be dealt with on a case by case basis.

Eligibility of other issues such as septic system concerns are still being considered. As of right now, Blauer said, inspections completed by Brinnier & Larios, PC have come up largely okay, with no whole septic failures found, but impairments such as slow flushing noted. While such repairs are not currently being considered, Blauer said the idea of a community sewer system for the affected area hasn't been totally closed off either.

Also dragging things along, said Brian Schug of Catskill Construction Consultants, the subcontractor responsible for home inspections, was a hold-up on the DEP's end after initial inspections were submitted. It took over six months, he said, for the city agency to review and comment on the inspections, only to then ask for further justification for damages... which has taken additional time.

But with negotiations wrapped up — and a final eligibility table forthcoming, according to NYCDEP deputy press secretary Adam Bosch — the process of bidding out the repair jobs for the first five of approximately forty homes will start soon.

"The town board has worked diligently with the DEP to hammer out a program we're comfortable rolling out to residents," Blauer noted.

While many have been pointing fingers at the DEP for the slow progress, they're only part of the equation, suggested Bosch, who admitted the department has lagged at getting the final eligibility table to the town but added how they've also approved a number of repairs recently — upwards of $500K worth — that the town hasn't moved on yet.

"Let's get started on the ones already approved while we work on the more complex ones," Bosch said, noting that delays working with different contractors may add to the slow progress.

The latter was also a concern noted by Wawarsing supervisor Leonard Distel, who suggested that the longer the process drags on, the harder it will be to locate and hire qualified contractors.

"I'm hoping that we're moving forward," Distel said, adding his continuing concern regarding repairs in a situation where leaks will continue.

According to Bosch, though, Distel's is a needless worry.

"Some of the homes have damage, why wait another seven years? Let's go ahead and fix the homes that are damaged," Bosch said. "We've reached a point where the worst seems behind us."

With improvements made to the drainage system at the pond at Lippman Park and other modifications the DEP has made to the operations and structure of the aqueduct, Bosch added that he hasn't heard of the same intensely high levels of basement flooding recorded in previous years.

"A combination of things have helped; hopefully, there won't be flooding," he said. "Let's move ahead."



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