The part of this plan that really pi**es of the residents is the $2500 to $4000 connection fee. They have to pay $350 per year for 10 years for the dry line. Then they have to pay $250 per year plus 5% increase each year to use the sewer system. Why would anyone want to pay a $4000 connection fee to the sewer district, where does that money go and for what purpose will it be used. This rather large fee was the reason that the residents of Highbridge Rd never approved the sewer district being formed over there when Time Warner was connected to the new sewer line.  

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This rather large fee was the reason that the residents of Highbridge Rd never approved the sewer district being formed over there when Time Warner was connected to the new sewer line.  

You are correct, in part shadow. Yes it would have been expensive for Highbridge AT THAT TIME, but as residents or businesses connected, it would ultimatly decrease the original cost to the Highbridge folks. In fact IF they had approved the sewer proposal at that time, Hamburg Street would be booming right now with businisses and all of Hamburg Street would be connected to sewers...hence....Highbridge would have ended up paying next to nothing. The cost burden would have been shared.

As far a the poor folks in Masullo estates...I would not invest one more dime into that place if I were them. There are no guarentees.

Quoted from Shadow

The part of this plan that really pi**es of the residents is the $2500 to $4000 connection fee. They have to pay $350 per year for 10 years for the dry line. Then they have to pay $250 per year plus 5% increase each year to use the sewer system. Why would anyone want to pay a $4000 connection fee to the sewer district, where does that money go and for what purpose will it be used. This rather large fee was the reason that the residents of Highbridge Rd never approved the sewer district being formed over there when Time Warner was connected to the new sewer line.  

Bond??loans??.....why do people use credit cards???  same thing only sewers are not something you can 'see' to decorate your house with...we are very short sighted animals....sewers dont get votes....but infrastructure is a foundation of which each generation must grapple with......set it up now or pass it on.......it's like folks who give their heirs $$, while they are still living, to buy a house, go to college, invest etc, or,,,,they can wait until their will is read to 'pass  the $$ on' to their heirs......

which would we get more mileage for enjoyment??? Now or when we are dead......

The amount of money that the residents pay to the sewer district each year to pay off the bond is fair. The amount of money paid to the sewer district as a yearly maintenance fee is fair. The connection fee is what the objection is about, $4000 to connect to the sewer district is too high and in order to make it more affordable the so called businesses to hook on to the system to lower the connection cost have got to be ready to pony up some money at the time the sewer district is formed not 20 years later. The bottom line is if the town doesn't get some grant money to offset the initial costs of forming a new sewer district it's never going to be approved by the residents. The cost of pumping a septic tank is $150 every 3 years, you do the math on what's more cost effective.

The businesses are getting $2500.00 for improvements...how about a little help from the IDA for the hook up....

First the IDA is set up for businesses only.

Second, I believe it was more than just the connection fee that discouraged the sewer project. I also do believe that we pay a big chunk in taxes and I would be led to believe that there has got to be some grant money out there to invest back into our Rotterdam. And I guess that if there are no grants available to help with the cost of new sewers, there will also never be a generation that will bite the bullet for the future generations to come.

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And I guess that if there are no grants available to help with the cost of new sewers, there will also never be a generation that will bite the bullet for the future generations to come.

That's a fact.....

I remember years ago when sewers and street lights were first introduced to parts of Rotterdam. The people were more than happy to pass a bond and pay for them. There were no such thing as grants back then. And people didn't make the kind of money that people make today or have the luxuries we have today. I am sad to hear that today people don't see the importance of infrustructure in a community. But I am glad that people who had less, did see the importance.

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I remember years ago when sewers and street lights were first introduced to parts of Rotterdam. The people were more than happy to pass a bond and pay for them. There were no such thing as grants back then. And people didn't make the kind of money that people make today or have the luxuries we have today. I am sad to hear that today people don't see the importance of infrustructure in a community. But I am glad that people who had less, did see the importance.

Credit cards happened....

High finance rates and low payments, too.  Credit issues with the entire county, done with your tax dollars (Have I said lately how nice a block and a half is looking on State Street?

http://www.dailygazette.com

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ROTTERDAM
Citizens demand referendum
Masullo Estates residents want a voice in sewer decision
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net

   More than half of the homeowners in Masullo Estates signed a petition this month to force a referendum on a plan to establish a dry sewer line in the neighborhood.
   Gary Nowicki of East Lucille Lane submitted a petition signed by 46 of the 88 homeowners in the development to the Town Board, topping the 20 percent needed for the vote. The move came less than two weeks after many Masullo residents expressed skepticism of the plan during an informational meeting.
   “No one refused to sign the petition,” Nowicki said Wednesday. About 40 people packed the board meeting.
   Last month, board members advanced a $3,000 study of the sewer district, shifting the ultimate decision on the district to the board — which bypassed a referendum vote. Supervisor Steve Tommasone indicated that the move was to expedite the process, but said the town wouldn’t move ahead unless a majority of residents wanted the sewer.
   Nowicki said those who signed the petition wanted the sewer district decision to remain with the homeowners. He stressed that the petitioners didn’t try to influence residents in their decision.
   “Our purpose wasn’t to infl uence people, but to give them the right to choose,”
   Town officials had proposed the dry sewer line as part of a $1.35 million reconstruction of the development’s badly deteriorating roads. The sewer line would be paid for by residents and is projected to eventually hook into a larger main planned for the proposed 261-unit Helderberg Meadows development. That is anticipated to start construction next year.
   Project engineers said the sewer district might alleviate some of the neighborhood’s drainage problems once connected to a working sanitary system. But overall, they indicated the sewers wouldn’t solve the overriding problems homeowners experience with a high water table and basement flooding.
   Many Masullo residents expressed frustration that the sewer district seemed to be taking precedence over their issues with poor drainage in the neighborhood. East Lucille Lane resident Mike Budka said the sewers seemed to be a prelude for more development in the area.
   “We started out optimistic many months ago... but now it’s turned into a different project,” he said. “I believe we’re pawns in a bigger game — it’s called the development game.”
   Michael O’Connor of East Lucille Lane said the board needed to develop a comprehensive plan for the development that prominently features a solution to the drainage problems, as well as road improvements. He scolded board members for moving rapidly forward with a sewer district without any developing any potential fix for the development’s persistent flooding.
   “In three years, you have no actionable drainage plans,” he said. “Yet in three months, you have a full blown sewer plan laid out.”  

  
  
  

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“In three years, you have no actionable drainage plans,” he said. “Yet in three months, you have a full blown sewer plan laid out.”  

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Many Masullo residents expressed frustration that the sewer district seemed to be taking precedence over their issues with poor drainage in the neighborhood. East Lucille Lane resident Mike Budka said the sewers seemed to be a prelude for more development in the area.

It's all about spreading the burden of cost around,,,,,hell, I would just pack up and leave a stinking mess for the banks and the town.....we need to upgrade our infrastructure and now.....

I personally believe that there is absolutely no resolve for Masullo Est. They live in an area that has a high water table. So do many other areas in town. The development should have never been built there to begin with. But it was and there is nothing that can be done now.

The administration should just come right out and tell the people that there truly is NOTHING that can be done. Enough money has been spent on studies for that area, and there is clearly no solution. Unfortunantly, the residents will just have to live with it.

And let me state here that I am not meaning that without compassion, sympathy and understanding to this bad situation these poor residents are in. But I just believe that there truly is nothing left to do.

As far as Heldeburg Medows, I see that as a potential future Masullo. But at least these developers were smart enough to not have their name associated with the developments name. In fact,, did or does any of the Masullo family live in Masullo ests? I know they use to. If they don't now, I wonder why?

There is a fix for Masullo Estates but it's not going to be fixed by one solution. It'll take a new storm sewer system, public sewer system, something that's not too popular a pumping system to help move the water out of the development, and fixing the nonworking storm-water drainage system in Netherlands Village. The problem is it's expensive to fix and it'll have a cost for maintenance every year to maintain the pumping system. If a hydrological study had been done the town would know exactly what they're up against and how to fix it instead of listening to the guesses of 5 engineering firms.

Some of the streets in Masullo Estates were named after their children. They use to live there a long time ago. But they don't anymore and I really don't know why.