ELLENVILLE >> Residents on Wednesday voted 189-34 to spend $1.2 million of the Mountain Money fund to pay off accumulated water system debts, improve storm separation of sewer lines, and make truck purchases for village departments.
The funding comes from the $3.2 million remaining in an account established when the village sold about 4,000 acres of property in the Ice Caves Mountain and Minnewaska area to the Open Space Institute in 2002.
“I think people saw that it is a comprehensive approach that addresses five or six problems and not just one,” said Village Manager Joseph Stoeckeler Jr.
Officials would not have been able to use the funds until 2027 if residents had not approved the ballot proposition.
Under the plan, officials will use $475,000 to resolve water district debt accumulated during the past 17 years; $100,000 for two trucks; $275,000 to address sewer system storm water separation issues identified by the state Department of Environmental Conservation; and $375,000 to resolve debt on current loader and truck.
Mayor Jeff Kaplan last week said the water district debt began accumulating when the former Nevele resort closed.
“They owed use about $150,000 on the books at that time for unpaid water,” he said. “Going forward, we lost an outside user of water … that was responsible for a third of our revenues. So it was a significant blow to the village when they went out.”
Officials were finally able to get the water system back to a revenue neutral position in the past two years but still needed to resolve the debt.
“One of the things that went into this particular thought and effort was that it is something that could help every single resident,” Stoeckeler said.
Water customers can also expect to have smaller water bills after the Village Board finalizes the funding.
“Effective two months from now it’s going to save the village $12,000 a month in interest for four years by paying off the water deficit,” Stoeckeler said.
“It should enable the quarterly water rates to go down about $35 a household,” he said. “In theory, it could be the April 1 bill, but it could be the July 1 bill. It all depends on how fast the board wants to act.”
