(Photo via Pexels).
The village of Homer is gearing up to apply for funding from the state Water Infrastructure Improvement Program (WIIA).
The Board of Trustees passed a resolution at Tuesday’s meeting to approve a proposal from Barton and Loguidice, the engineering firm leading the village’s overhaul to the sewer pump station, to apply for up to $5,000 in funds to buy a new water tank. The application is due July 28.
The project would replace a weathered water tank with a concrete one, as well as renovate the four pump stations at the following locations:
- Hudson Street
- Brentwood Drive
- North Main Street
- Willow Park Drive
The project is also set to replace the controls and electric fixtures at the stations on Albany Street, Hooker Avenue, North Main Street and Wall Street.
All told, the project would renovate all but one of the village’s nine pump stations.
The overhauls will be financed via a mixture of both grants and loans, including a no-interest loan of $1.7 million, and about $1.9 million in state grants.
Construction is set to start sometime in the near future.
Jacqueline Novak, an employee of Barton and Loguidice, noted the company will complete a survey related to the project in October, and move to draft a preliminary design early in 2024. A final design is expected in the summer next year, and later look for regulatory approval with the state in the fall.
“Then we’d look to bid on the project in the winter,” Novak said. “It tends to be a good time to bid.”
The estimate for completion time on the project is about a year.
“But COVID-19 threw a wrench on our estimates,” she said, adding that the availability of parts for the project could be an issue.
