Bedford Village Sewer District Formation Moves Forward

Press release from the Town of Bedford:

Bedford Village Sewer District Formation Moves Forward

Grant Applications Underway

On Tuesday, July 25, 2023, the Bedford Town Board voted that a sewer district in the Bedford Village business area is in the public interest and will hold a referendum of property owners in the fall. There was a public hearing at the meeting that was well-attended and yielded constructive feedback.

After a year of meetings with various stakeholders and an environmental review that found no significant negative impact, the Town Board is glad to be moving this project ahead in time to submit applications in this year’s annual Consolidated Funding Application grant cycle. This project will require significant grant funding to build.

Given the Bedford Central School District is required to build a new water pollution control facility as they are out of compliance with their permit at Bedford Village Elementary School, this creates a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the hamlet of Bedford Village to get sewered. It works for a number of reasons:

1. The Town, which has experience managing large infrastructure projects, can build a new water pollution control facility that brings the school district into compliance;
2. The school district can allocate the funds that were reserved for this project to the sewer district, saving BCSD money in long term operation and maintenance costs; If for some reason the project cannot be funded or approved going forward, BCSD will have to proceed to build a new water pollution control facility in the same location the Town will build one.
3. The Town can extend the sewer project to the nearby businesses to replace old septic systems which prevent pollution of groundwater and the downstream drinking water;
4. A new sewer system for properties in the commercial will enable hamlet vitality with the potential for expanded uses or new uses that require additional water capacity (like restaurants, housing, or services).
5. The Town Zoning Code, Comprehensive Plan, and Historic District restrictions regulate how Bedford Village may, even with extra capacity, develop going forward. Those processes are in place to ensure that overdevelopment will not occur.

In the next two weeks the Town will submit grant applications to the state and the state notifies grantees of awards at the end of the year, or early in the next year.

If the grants are forthcoming, the Town would proceed to start the process of design for the project. Input from all interested stakeholders in the elements of design will be sought during the process.

The Town will continue to keep the public informed and engaged in this important initiative.

This press release was produced by the Town of Bedford. The views expressed here are the author’s own.