Essex wins water grant

ESSEX | The town of Essex has been awarded $790,000 from the Northern Border Regional Commission to put toward the $3 million cost of a new water treatment plant. Essex Supervisor Ken Hughes said he hopes the grant, along with revenue from cellular carriers leasing space on the district's water tower, will keep water rates stable as the town looks to improve its water source. Revamping the town's water system has been "a very long, arduous process," Hughes said. The town drilled three wells at Beggs Point Park about five years ago, and while the water was good there wasn't enough of it in the summer when vacationers came to call. The new source will be Lake Champlain, a bottomless water source that is more abundant, but less clean and in need of more treatment. The project, which will begin this fall, will build a temporary treatment plant at Beggs Point that will serve the town while the existing plant is gutted and rebuilt. The width will increase but not the height, so as not to overly interfere with boaters' view of the shore. The new plant will have improved filtration and UV disinfectant. The project is being financed with bonds to be paid back over 30 years, although the grant will significantly reduce the payment. Many people helped make the grant possible. "Anna Reynolds and her team at the (Essex County) Office of Community Resources have been amazing, and (Rep.) Elise Stefanik was exceptionally helpful," Hughes said. The Northern Border Regional Commission is a federal and state partnership that serves distressed counties in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. It was created by Congress in 2008 and provides Federal funds for critical economic and community development projects that help provide jobs and economic growth throughout the Northeast. Hughes said the project will take eight to 12 months to complete, and will complicate activities and lake access at the park. "We'll have to get creative to see how people will be able to access the water," he said. Beggs Point was once a busy industrial site producing nails and window sashes, and serving as a wharf for canal boats. After the wells had been drilled, the town learned that locating a public utility on a public park was impermissible, so a land-swap with the state was required to set things right, Hughes said. The material of value will be salvaged from the wells, and then they will be filled and capped.

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Essex wins water grant

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