Final Design Phase Started for Stormwater Collection System Improvements

By Michael Ryan

JEWETT - It may sound like a yawner, but the beginning of the final design phase for big stormwater collection system improvements in Jewett has government officials feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Town council members, at a meeting last week, approved a contract with SLR Engineering to perform multiple tasks related to the project that is being financed by a $133,500 Catskill Watershed Corporation grant.

“This will save Jewett taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars overall,” town supervisor Greg Kroyer said, noting CWC previously paid $22,000 toward a conceptual design.

It is hoped the finalized plans will open the door to additional CWC funding for construction of the system in the near future. Ultimate approval would emanate from the Department of Environmental Protection.

“When this is done, our municipal complex will be more flood resistant, on both sides of the road,” Kroyer said, referring to Route 23C where the highway department, salt shed and government offices are located.

“All the water will be directed where it needs to go, to Town House Brook and then the East Kill. We’ve been seeking this funding for eight years.

Now, we are hopefully close to the end.” Kroyer said.

Final design will stretch into next year, and money provided thus far leaves local officials optimistic the CWC and DEP will continue their support.

Meanwhile, in their report, SLR Engineering states the firm, “conducted a Local Flood Analysis for the Town in 2021 – 2022 to identify sources of flooding and recommend flood mitigation options.

SLR documented that, “town facilities were prone to flooding from various sources including Town House Brook, which runs along the perimeter of the property, and stormwater runoff flows from Route 23C and the paved municipal parking area.

Further, “the Town House Brook culvert along Route 23C was estimated to overtop during the 10-year flood while the stormwater drainage culverts along Route 23C were estimated to overtop during the 2-year flood.

“When the culverts overtop, floodwaters flow over Route 23C toward the Jewett municipal building and highway garage,” the report states.

“Flooding at the highway department garage is particularly problematic because its first floor is below the surrounding ground level, making it a natural path for [Route 23C] runoff and floodwaters,” the report states.

“The Town facilities are also impacted by pluvial flooding during intense

rainfall events. Runoff flows can increase rapidly due to the steep slope of Route 23C and large area of impervious surfaces that drain toward the Town’s facilities,” the report states.

“This flooding disrupts the Town's emergency response operations by hindering the highway department's ability to quickly mobilize and address community needs during such events,” the report states.

“Additionally, flooding significantly impacts water quality. When floodwaters mobilize and transport pollutants like oil, grease, sediment, salt, and litter stored in and around the highway garage, they can severely degrade water quality in Town House Brook,” the report states.

“This brook flows into the East Kill, a tributary of Schoharie Creek, which feeds into the New York City Department of Environmental

Protection’s Schoharie Reservoir,” the report states.

“The town has been working to reduce flooding by replacing the undersized culvert that conveys Town House Brook under Route 23C and upsizing several of the roadside drainage culverts that drain to the brook,” the report states.

“The Town is looking to further reduce flooding from stormwater runoff by

retrofitting the site’s stormwater collection and treatment systems,” the report states.

SLR, as part of their agreement, will provide technical specification and contract documents (bid form and invitation to bid).

In other business:

—Town supervisor Greg Kroyer reported the successful installation of a new boiler at the municipal building, costing $11,500, performed on an emergency basis.

“The old boiler was shot. It was twenty-five years old and the cast iron part had rusted through. It’s been leaking for years,” Kroyer said.

“We’d been checking it everyday lately. Water was squirting out. There was two inches of water on the floor the other day. We sopped it up and called the plumber,” Kroyer said.

The call was placed to Huber Enterprises Inc., based in Catskill, a company very familiar with the plumbing system at the town hall. “They’re the same company who has done work on it all along,” Kroyer said.

“They diagnosed the situation on a Friday, the boiler was delivered to them the following Monday and they showed up Tuesday with three trucks and five or six people, spending the day here” Kroyer said.

“They did a very professional job, replacing some other parts too. We aren’t happy to spend the money, but we’re happy to have it done,” Kroyer said.

—Town board members unanimously reappointed sole assessor Nancy Bower to a fourth, 6-year term.

Bower has also served four years at the start of her tenure, completing the unexpired term of Georgette Krauss who had retired.