GREAT VALLEY — The ongoing process to have a sewer study done in the hamlet of Kill Buck is a top project for the Great Valley Town Board as it was recently updated at its March 11 meeting.
Catherine Reese, water specialist from RCAP Solutions, said she has assisted with the town’s application for a grant to do a study on the current and potential future sewer system in Kill Buck.
“It may mean a wastewater collection system, it could mean some sort of cluster system where they’re doing onsite treatment,” she said. “That’s one of the alternatives the engineer will evaluate.”
The town was successful in getting the $50,000 grant in December and requested proposals to hire an engineer to do the study.
Now, the town is waiting for residents in Kill Buck to submit the income surveys mailed to all the homes in the area where the study would be done, Rees said. Completed income surveys would help in determining if the town is eligible for grants for the project, which would keep costs down and not put the burden on the residents.
“They do require a high percentage of return,” she said. If it’s more than 100, it’s an 80 percent return. If it’s a 100 or less, it’s a 90 percent return.”
Brown said the he talked with some residents in Kill Buck about the survey and some of them told him they didn’t want to hook up to the city of Salamanca’s sewer system. He said part of the hamlet being located on the Seneca Nation of Indians territory is also a point of hesitancy.
“If they a question like will they be made to hook up to the city line, we don’t know that yet. That’s part of the study, to figure out the best way to take care of this,” he said.
Rees said the income survey isn’t about whether or not the residents are for or against the project, but to see how much funding the project could get if the town decides to do one.
“The sooner they can get started (with the study), the better,” she said. “Part of the study is to evaluate the capacity at the Salamanca sewage treatment plant, and they need to do that during high flow periods, which happen during the spring thaw and rainy season.”
IN OTHER BUSINESS, the course for the Happy Half at Holiday Valley that runs through a large portion of the town of Great Valley has been approved by the town board.
Co-organizer Doug Bush informed the town board of the plans for the Happy Half at the town’s last meeting.
Bush said the half-marathon would go out of Holiday Valley, down Route 219 into Great Valley, go around Depot Street, Grave Avenue and Mutton Hollow Road before heading down Klawitter Road and then back up Route 219 to Holiday Valley.
“What I’m looking for is for your approval to do that again on May 11,” Bush said. “The real important point for the course is we want to run it out on Klawitter and we have traffic control with the Sheriff’s Department, and they control traffic at the intersections.”
Bush said in year’s past, they’ve limited traffic on Klawitter Road to locals only to secure the safety of the runners.
“There’s a letter that we give to all the residents informing them what times, what they can expect and our contact information if they do have any questions,” he said.
Town Supervisor Daniel Brown said the board’s approval of the half-marathon is contingent upon proof of insurance from the state Department of Transportation.
Bush said the DOT is planning to do some milling work on Route 219 sometime this year, but no specific dates had been given, so he’s not sure if it would affect the race.
ALSO OF NOTE, the town is preparing to do memorial engraving on the stone at the Great Valley Memorial Park at the intersection of Route 219 and Route 98.
Brown said the weather didn’t cooperate last fall, so the company that does that is planning to do it as soon as the good weather arrives.
“If somebody wants to put a loved one’s name on the wall, they need to get ahold of us,” he said. “There are forms in the hallway here they can fill out.”
Brown said the town needs to have a significant list of names to make the cost of engraving worth it.
“We’ve lost a few town residents that their families may want to put their names on too, so we need to get them in here and get their names sooner rather than later,” he added.
