Turkey Hill, which lies just west of Route 209 close to the junction with Routes 44/55, has always had an issue with water. In most other ways it is an idyllic spot, but the water “is terrible,” to quote the longtime former Wawarsing town board member Steve Bradley. “It’s just awful.”

Tom Lewis, a Turkey Hill resident for six years, came to the town board last Thursday to bring up the issue to the town, suggesting a possible solution if the neighborhood joins the newly completed Wawarsing Water District.

Turkey Hill has forty some parcels of property, with about 29 homes. Three more are under construction. Lewis said that the issue with the water is from deep wells that exhibit contamination by methane gas, manganese and coliform bacteria.

Lewis told the town board that many Turkey Hill residents find the water so poor they will not drink it.

The new water district was created by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection in response to the suspected damage caused by leaks from the Delaware West Branch Aqueduct Tunnel under the town. New York City has spent $22 million so far, and will spend more as the district expands and consolidates. The aqueduct has been closed for long awaited repairs.

Originally, Turkey Hill was included in the plan for the new water district, but they ended up excluded from the plan, most likely because they are located at the northern end of the district and are situated on higher ground with no likely effect from the aqueduct leakage. However, Tom Lewis said that LaBella Engineering has already done a plan for Turkey Hill, which was never used. And it should be noted that the Wawarsing water district connects at the northern end with the Kerhonkson water district, meaning that there is continuous water supply all the way from Ellenville to Kerhonkson now. Connecting Turkey Hill, in between those points, would not be impossible.

Lewis found a warm welcome from the board. Town Supervisor Terry Houck said that the NYC DEP are monitoring three wells on Turkey Hill. Of course, as Town Attorney Bill Collier noted, this will not be inexpensive. “You have twenty or thirty people on Turkey Hill, and they would be responsible for the capital costs.”

He also mentioned that the State Comptroller’s office keeps an eye on “special districts” such as water and sewer districts and their costs. There are thresholds for costs listed on the OSC website concerning “Special Districts” (includes the establishment, extension of or increase in the maximum amount to be expended), Sewer $650 and Water $1,083.”

Houck said that there might be a CDGB grant available for a project like this and that the town’s grant writer, Mark Blauer, was looking into that. Board Member Johnny Frost added that there are also USDA grants that might be applicable. “There are a lot of steps to go through, and we need to do some due diligence,” he said.

Meanwhile, back on Turkey Hill, Tom Lewis and other residents are studying the situation and will continue their conversation with the town.