Still waiting on an approval from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to place a wastewater treatment plant under the long-term parking lot off Gingerbread Lane, the East Hampton Village Board heard a presentation on alternate locations from H2M Architects and Engineers at its meeting Friday.
In July, Mayor Jerry Larsen said he had expected the D.E.C. to approve the plant under the parking lot by December 2021.
“We wanted to start this track in case the non-conventional system under the long-term lot fails,” he said. A meeting scheduled for later this month could provide more information from the Suffolk County and the D.E.C. on the possibility of the parking lot plan.
A spokesperson for the D.E.C. would not weigh in on the merits of the parking lot application, saying only, “All applications, including those submitted for projects of this extent, require a thorough review regardless of proposed treatment technologies or wastewater usage.” The D.E.C. “requested additional information to help ensure the application is complete and meets stringent New York State standards and is protective of human health and the environment. We will continue to work with the village sewer district on their permit application.”
The village agreed to pay H2M $34,800 to evaluate the feasibility of placing a treatment facility at the Department of Public Works property at 172 Accabonac Road, owned by the village but outside of village boundaries, or at 29 King Street, which is not owned by the village but is within its boundaries.
Both locations were previously studied by Pio Lombardo, of Lombardo Associates, a competing engineering firm. Mr. Lombardo ultimately came up with the long-term lot plan but recommended the King Street location as an alternative in his July report to the village.
Billy Hajek, the village planner, said having two engineering firms studying the same problem wasn’t “overlapping work” but more of a “peer review.” “They have different perspectives on treatment capabilities,” he said. “We’re letting engineers and regulations point the best way forward.”
Nicholas Bono, an assistant vice president and wastewater engineer from H2M, made clear that the D.P.W. land owned by the village on Accabonac Road was his preferred option should the long-term lot fail to gain approval, and not 29 King Street.
The D.P.W. property is 12.5 acres, and after setbacks were accounted for, 1.7 acres, centrally located, could be used for the plant. The plant would be enclosed in a building and wouldn’t impact other uses on the parcel. Mr. Bono said further review would be necessary and that his firm was only studying whether a plant could be physically situated at the site.
Critical environmental issues, like whether endangered species and archaeological remains were present, would need to be assessed. He admitted in a report to the village that “significant tree removal” was a negative.
In Mr. Lombardo’s report, he cited the 7,400 feet of piping and the impact to major town roads as negatives of the D.P.W. property. It is about two miles from the heart of the village. A wastewater treatment plant located outside the village would also be subject to town approvals, something the village was hoping to avoid.
“You can push sewage for miles,” said Mr. Hajek, in a phone call. “The question is, how much does it cost to move it?”
But the property’s advantages, including its size, which provides a natural buffer from neighbors, and the fact that it is owned and used by the village now, outweighed any negatives for Mr. Bono.
“We really believe it seemed more appropriate on the D.P.W. property,” he said.
Mr. Bono said the next steps were to define the service area and to understand the goal of the system. He said it was important to target the right uses, to get the biggest benefit to water quality.
He estimated it might cost between $11 million and $12 million to construct a facility, less than half of what Mr. Lombardo estimated in his July 6 presentation for the parking lot idea. He admitted however, that the cost did not include pumps. “Projects are costly and do take time to properly plan,” he said.
At 2.9 acres and bordering the train tracks, the King Street parcel was too “tight” to house a treatment plant, Mr. Bono said, and a plant there wouldn’t meet Suffolk County Department of Health setback distances. Variances, and a special permit, would be required.
Another complicating factor for the King Street property is that the village doesn’t own it and it is not at present for sale. It was last sold in 2013 for $2.2 million to Under One Roof L.L.C.
At the meeting, Mr. Hajek asked about site expandability. Mr. Bono said the Accabonac Road site could be expanded much more easily than the 29 King Street property.
“I think under the parking lot is the most logical place, but it’s unknown unless we get approvals,” said Mayor Larsen. “We’re finding it difficult to find a location within the village to house the plant. It looks like we’re leaning towards Accabonac.”
