LeRay water project hits snag

EVANS MILLS — A major water project in the town of LeRay is on hold after the Town Council rejected bids Thursday night for contracts to build Water District 4, also known as the LaFave Road water project.

The district would serve about 535 users in the southern portion of the town.

After the bids came in far higher than expected in February, town engineer Kris D. Dimmick revealed that his firm, Bernier, Carr & Associates, Watertown, had erred when it made its initial $7.7 million cost estimate for the project.

Added together, the lowest bids for the project would have put its cost at almost $1.9 million over that figure, which would require an additional bond resolution, plus a 30-day permissive referendum period, by which time the bids would have expired. The council had considered asking contractors to extend their bids, but rejected them instead.

Supervisor Ronald C. Taylor said Friday that the town couldn't simply add additional debt to the district because of the way it was developed. "We presented it to the people and they voted on formation of the district based on the $7.7 million expenditure," he said.

Now that the cost will be higher, the voters should have a say in whether and how to proceed, Mr. Taylor said.

To gather input on the issue, the council has set a public hearing for 7 p.m. March 25 in the town office, 8650 LeRay St.

Meanwhile, the town is exploring whether state grant programs might be able to provide additional funding for the project, to offset the added cost.

At Thursday's meeting, the council acknowledged the process of gathering public input, searching for new funding sources, considering cuts to the project and rethinking how to proceed likely will take two or three months — too long to ask contractors to hold their current bids.

Even though rebidding the project is likely to mean higher costs, slowing things down is "the fairest way for everyone" given the circumstances, the supervisor said.

While the water project has hit a speed bump, another previously stalled town project has started moving again, with productive talks between town officials and a developer about sharing the cost of building part of a new rear-access road mandated by the town's zoning law.

Mr. Taylor and other officials met earlier with Dinesh T. Patel, owner of the Royal Inn Motel in Watertown, who has proposed building a Days Inn on a two-acre parcel south of White Pines Plaza on Route 11.

Mr. Patel had been upset over a requirement that he build part of a rear-access road on his property. The zoning law requires developers along major roadways to incorporate rear-access roads into their plans to relieve traffic congestion on major thoroughfares as the area develops. Once it is built, the town would take over ownership and maintenance of the road.

Mr. Patel had argued the planned road would use up too much of his small parcel and pose too much of a cost burden for its development.

Both sides said Friday that they were nearing an agreement in which the town would share some of the cost of building the road. Steven T. Harter, administrative clerk to the supervisor, said the Town Council might be willing to change the design to use less of Mr. Patel's land.

Mr. Patel, who previously accused town officials of being "disgusting people" who wanted to "keep me hostage," on Friday was more optimistic about the road negotiations.

"We can work it out," he said.