CALCIUM — LeRay has acquired a $2 million grant from the state Environmental Facilities Corp. to establish a sewer district here that would provide service to about 300 households and the area near Route 283 and Five Corners Road.

The Town Council approved a plan Thursday to accept the grant offer from the state and authorized town engineer Kris D. Dimmick to develop a plan for the sewer district that will serve the maximum number of households in the area and still maintain an affordable annual project cost for residents.

Mr. Dimmick, vice president of municipal engineering at Bernier, Carr & Associates of Watertown, said the goal will be to keep the annual residential cost for the project in the range of $440 to $450 — a rate comparable to the sewer district project the town completed along the Route 3 corridor. Households located in the sewer district along Route 3 are paying about $445 this year.

Depending on the number of households involved in the proposed project, it could cost anywhere from $4 to $8 million after factoring in the $2 million state grant.

Getting the OK for the project from taxpayers, however, could be difficult. In 2013, households there will start paying off a 30-year loan for Water District 4, which overlaps the same area. Voters approved the $7.7 million water district project in 2009, with an annual fee per household of about $469.

Mr. Dimmick said the sewer district would primarily serve five mobile home communities in the area, along with houses that are now serviced by individual septic tanks.

Part of what spurred the town to conduct the original engineering study for the project in 2009 was ongoing septic problems at the Edgewood Court Trailer Park, 27634 Route 283, which has been riddled with fines from the state Department of Health. Mr. Dimmick said that those lingering problems likely helped improve the score on the town’s grant application because of the state’s extensive involvement.

“Mobile home parks in the area are under the watchful eye of the department,” he said. “Edgewood was told to replace its system as a part of the existing town system.”

While owners of mobile home parks likely will support the project, Mr. Dimmick said he anticipates a mixed response from residents based on the feedback already received by the town.

“The most recent comment was that nobody wanted to pay an arm and a leg for the sewer project but that they’d like to know the cost,” he said. “But there hasn’t been a lot of interaction with homeowners about this to date, particularly around the real user cost.”

The number of households the district will cover in the hamlet of Calcium could change, depending on the level of support from residents. The town will host multiple public hearings for the project this fall, and it would be required to complete a full environmental review of the site by Nov. 19. The deadline to approve the final bonding resolution for the project is Feb. 1, 2013.

“The Calcium area could be scaled back or include more residents” depending on the feedback the town gets, said Steven T. Harter, administrative clerk to the LeRay supervisor.

“It might be feasible to include (the whole hamlet) but we don’t know what the support will be from the community yet,” he said. “The town isn’t going to try to shove this down anyone’s throat and is going to have the best plan that benefits residents.”

Those with feedback or questions regarding the project may call the LeRay town office at 629-4052.

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