New water treatment plant in Essex now online

ESSEX | Cheers with glasses of water are in order, as the town's new water treatment plant in Beggs Park is now officially online. On June 15, Town of Essex Supervisor Ken Hughes, Chief Operator Tina Gardner, and Jonathan Soukup, the owner and chief engineer of Cedarwood Engineering on the project, opened the valve to the water distribution system — delivering water to the School Street water tower and then eventually to the approximate 170 users in the district. It was a moment that Hughes, who has been working on this project since becoming a supervisor in 2020, couldn't miss. "We pulled the trigger on getting these contracts together in 2020," he said. "This project has been a long and arduous process." Approximately 15 years ago, the town was placed under a constant order by the New York State Health Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to upgrade its water treatment facilities and operations. Initially, the Department of Health encouraged the town to drill to find groundwater. Hughes said that potential groundwater had been discovered. Still, there wasn't enough water to serve the water district's users, leaving them with no choice but to continue drawing from Lake Champlain. Officials were ready to break ground on Labor Day in 2020, but then COVID put those plans on hold. The town eventually built a trailer to provide water to property owners, then demolished the old water plant in Beggs Park and began construction on the new one in 2024. Since then, Beggs Park has gone from being fully closed to mostly open. Now that the water treatment plant is online, Hughes said that if the plant runs smoothly for the first week or two, the town can then start decommissioning the temporary structures on site and clearing the area. "Once that's done, that fence can finally come down," he said. "I would love for all that to be done by our Fourth of July celebration." Hughes also expressed that he would like to host an official ribbon-cutting and unveiling ceremony on Essex Day, the first Saturday in August, with the state and federal partners who helped make this project possible. "We'll have glasses of water for everybody to cheer with," Hughes said. "We'll toast to the new project, and hopefully, we won't have to touch this again for another 30 or 40 years." In the meantime, Hughes plans to make several updates to Beggs Park. For instance, picnic tables and barbecue pits will be installed sometime this summer. A tree will be planted in honor of a deceased local resident who enjoyed spending time in the park. Landscaping and paving will be done, as the supervisor hopes to eventually incorporate a parking spot for the fire department and handicap parking. In the future, Hughes would like to see the top of the new water treatment plant used for live music performances and, eventually, a memorial installed to honor Essex veterans. Lastly, the water rate schedule will also change sometime in the near future. Users will be charged similarly to those in the town's sewer district, where residents are currently charged based on the number of bedrooms in their households, as determined by assessors, while the rate for commercial properties is based on square footage. For more information or updates, visit essexnewyork.com.

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New water treatment plant in Essex now online

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