By ABBY LUBY //
Vocal opposition to the proposed Scotts Corners Water District dominated the July 2 Pound Ridge town board meeting. Listed on the meeting agenda was a resolution to ratify and reaffirm the previous resolution to create the district. The resolution had already been approved at the June 24 meeting. But there was a problem with listing the new law with a local newspaper, the Journal News, which meant the resolution had to be ratified again by the board.
The formation of the Scotts Corners Water District would allow water to be piped in from the Aquarion Water Company located in Stamford, Conn., to its existing treated water storage tank at the Pound Ridge Golf Club on High Ridge Road, and then to Scotts Corners property owners. The proposed water district includes approximately 39 service connections, servicing approximately 114 people.
But those attending the July 2 meeting pushed back for different reasons to forming the district in the first place. Complaints ranged from mistaken property sizes that wrongly estimated the cost for property owners to hook up to the water system, to installing other filtration systems instead of connecting to Aquarion. Some also argued that the project favored the larger business owners in Scotts Corners.
John McCown, who has consistently criticized the project costs for being miscalculated, claimed the town’s cost estimates for water district property owners hooking up to a new water source were well below actual costs. He referred to the town’s report on the project.
“The report claims a $856 per EDU [equivalent dwelling unit] cost, ostensibly 21% below the maximum,” McCown told the board. “If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell you.”
McCown itemized the mistakes and said the town neglected to account for the actual annual operating and maintenance costs, future inflation and various adjusted principal rates. “This board needs to show real, accurate numbers to the folks in the business district,” McCown noted. “It also needs to show real, accurate numbers to the staff at the New York State Comptroller’s Office.”
Resident Ellen Kearns suggested the town consider a reverse osmosis water treatment rather than piping in water from Connecticut. Based on her conversation with the Westchester County Department of Health about various water treatments, Kearns said there was a discrepancy between what the town claims are accepted treatments versus what are permissible by the DOH.
“The osmosis idea would cost $780,000 if you’re really overestimating,” Kearns said. “The pipe costs $11 million. We could save $10 million of taxpayer money if we follow the recommendation of the Westchester County Department of Health.”
Although the DOH recommended water treatments such as granular-activated carbon and reverse osmosis, Kearns questioned why Pound Ridge Supervisor Kevin Hansan had told her those water filtration systems were not allowed.
Norman Bernstein, also a resident, stressed that the water from Connecticut had to be treated and had to go somewhere, and the town would have to install a wastewater system which could cost $30 million plus a few more bonds that would financially burden the town. He pointed out that once the town assumes the extra financial burden, it would cause the rents in the town to go up. “The landlords are not going to pay for this and they will pass it through to their tenants, who will start going out of business and the value of the real estate goes down,” he said.
Also opposing the formation of the water district was Scott Fernquist. He and his wife, Anna, are occupants of one of three single-family homes in the Scotts Corners district. Fernquist also urged the board to reexamine project costs for property owners and to have those costs vetted by an auditor.
“The figures presented are totally unclear and the formula for assigning EDU’s per property is causing a lot of concern and uncertainly,” Fernquist said. “Moreover, there has been a significant lack of information provided to date. Many are still unaware of the project’s existence and its potential implications. We need more time to do our due diligence.”
Donna Simons, owner of Pound Ridge Organics in Scotts Corners, said she only uses 450 square feet of her carriage house for retail and her water usage was much less than what was projected by town consultants. Although she could choose not to hook up, she said she would still be charged. “Failure to pay this would bring a lien and potential seizure of my property, which would be unconscionable,” Simons said. “This project makes no sense to me.”
Town board councilwoman, Diane Briggs, said that at the last board meeting many people had voiced support for creating the water district. “I’m not saying that the entire community votes one way or the other, but in this room that were a lot of people supporting us exploring this project.” Briggs said she respected everybody’s position on the issue, “And they will be heard and recognized and accounted for. But there were a lot of people that are in trouble, a lot of our business owners are in trouble and they’re looking for help.”
Some speakers requested a public forum to answer questions and to have an independent audit of the EDU calculation. Others suggested the town’s only justification to move fast in legally forming the district was to meet a deadline on a New York state grant application for $7.5 million that would go towards the estimated $10.8 million for the project.
Hansan said that the town was just beginning the process. “There will be ample opportunity for additional public comments as we go through this during the summer and the fall. Creating a district is something that is new to us — it’s not like it happens every day.”
Hansan also suggested that the engineer’s report may contain incorrect information particularly when it came to size of the units or homes and property. The resolution was then adopted. Notice that the resolution will be subject of a permissive referendum is expected to be announced within 10 days.
Cannabis legislation stalled
Updating the board on the passage of certain state legislation in the last six months was state Sen. Shelley Mayer and state Assemblymember Chris Burdick. Of particular interest was the pending legislation that would allow Pound Ridge to opt out of having cannabis dispensaries in the town.
The town board adopted a resolution Feb. 6, 2024, asking the state to reinstate the opt-out period for nine months. Mayer introduced a bill that would exempt Pound Ridge “from the establishment of retail dispensary licenses and on-site consumption licenses for cannabis.” But by June the bill was still stalled in the Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee, according to Mayer.
Mayer, who is running for reelection in November, said if she wins all bills that were previously introduced can be reintroduced again in January 2025. “We did put in a bill, assemblyman Chris Burdick and I, to give a nine-month window for the town of Pound Ridge to opt out,” Mayer explained. “The bill did not move in either house and I think we were very upfront about the fact that there’s going to be real resistance to moving it for one town or for on select group of communities.” Mayor added, “There’s tremendous reluctance to opening up anything in the cannabis space.”
The state deadline to opt out of allowing cannabis retail to open in municipalities was Dec. 31, 2021. Pound Ridge never responded. When the cannabis dispensary Purple Plains opened last year in a former liquor store in Scotts Corners, residents called for a municipal ban on allowing dispensaries in the town even though the state cannabis law does not allow municipalities to adopt local laws to ban cannabis sites after the opt-out deadline.