LOCKPORT – The Town Board was briefed Wednesday on state storm water regulations that town planners now will be required to enforce.
Town Engineer Robert D. Klavoon said the growth in the town’s population density as measured by the 2010 census forced the town into what the state Department of Environmental Conservation calls an “MS4” designation. It stands for Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer Systems.
In short, it means any site plan that disturbs more than an acre of ground must comply with the state rules for control of storm water runoff from developed sites, in addition to the various town ordinances already enforced by the Planning Board. The state seeks to reduce the possibility of pollutants being carried by rain or melting snow through sewers into bodies of water.
“It’s not really a plus or a minus,” Town Supervisor Marc R. Smith said. “It’s a major departure from the way we’ve done things … No matter where the water goes, we’re responsible for it.”
The regulations were triggered for the whole town because of the population density spilling over from Amherst along Tonawanda Creek Road, Klavoon said.
“It’s going to be another obstacle for the developers,” Klavoon said. “It’s an unfunded mandate.”
Someone on the town payroll will have to be put in charge of storm water management, Klavoon said. But on the positive side, he said, the investigations needed to compile the annual report due by June 1 will increase the chances of discovery of illegal sewer discharges.
On another matter, Smith asked the board to make suggestions on possible unusual species or “vistas” they might want to see protected during the Western New York Land Conservancy’s Niagara Escarpment Legacy Project.
The Niagara River Greenway Commission approved the conservancy for a $316,673 grant to fund a survey of key areas along the escarpment, a geological feature that bisects the county from west to east.
Smith also reported that the state Department of Transportation has informed him that its funding of the Lincoln Avenue reconstruction project will not include the cost of moving a town water main under the south shoulder of the road.
Smith said that probably means the pipe won’t be moved when the street is repaired, perhaps as soon as next year. “I don’t think the town wants to invest half a million dollars,” Smith said.
The town will spend $58,700 to redo the exterior of the former Carpenters Union Hall on Dysinger Road, which it bought in 2011. Sicoli Construction of Niagara Falls won the contract for a new mansard roof, siding and trim.
Smith said there was mold in the walls and the insulation, and the town will use spray-foam insulation to replace the old material.
Smith said the DOT and the town have agreed that the town will buy a pedestrian bridge to take the Robinson Road sidewalk extension over Donner Creek, a 2014 project. The DOT will install the bridge and the rest of the sidewalk.
The board also decided to spend $10,300 on 40 more parking spaces at Day Road Park. It also approved spending $15,000 on labor and $2,342 on materials to repair three waterline breaks in the past month: at South Transit and Robinson Roads, on Kimberly Drive and on Keck Road. Klavoon said a fire hydrant also had to be replaced at the latter site.
email: tprohaska@buffnews.com
Town Engineer Robert D. Klavoon said the growth in the town’s population density as measured by the 2010 census forced the town into what the state Department of Environmental Conservation calls an “MS4” designation. It stands for Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer Systems.
In short, it means any site plan that disturbs more than an acre of ground must comply with the state rules for control of storm water runoff from developed sites, in addition to the various town ordinances already enforced by the Planning Board. The state seeks to reduce the possibility of pollutants being carried by rain or melting snow through sewers into bodies of water.
“It’s not really a plus or a minus,” Town Supervisor Marc R. Smith said. “It’s a major departure from the way we’ve done things … No matter where the water goes, we’re responsible for it.”
The regulations were triggered for the whole town because of the population density spilling over from Amherst along Tonawanda Creek Road, Klavoon said.
“It’s going to be another obstacle for the developers,” Klavoon said. “It’s an unfunded mandate.”
Someone on the town payroll will have to be put in charge of storm water management, Klavoon said. But on the positive side, he said, the investigations needed to compile the annual report due by June 1 will increase the chances of discovery of illegal sewer discharges.
On another matter, Smith asked the board to make suggestions on possible unusual species or “vistas” they might want to see protected during the Western New York Land Conservancy’s Niagara Escarpment Legacy Project.
The Niagara River Greenway Commission approved the conservancy for a $316,673 grant to fund a survey of key areas along the escarpment, a geological feature that bisects the county from west to east.
Smith also reported that the state Department of Transportation has informed him that its funding of the Lincoln Avenue reconstruction project will not include the cost of moving a town water main under the south shoulder of the road.
Smith said that probably means the pipe won’t be moved when the street is repaired, perhaps as soon as next year. “I don’t think the town wants to invest half a million dollars,” Smith said.
The town will spend $58,700 to redo the exterior of the former Carpenters Union Hall on Dysinger Road, which it bought in 2011. Sicoli Construction of Niagara Falls won the contract for a new mansard roof, siding and trim.
Smith said there was mold in the walls and the insulation, and the town will use spray-foam insulation to replace the old material.
Smith said the DOT and the town have agreed that the town will buy a pedestrian bridge to take the Robinson Road sidewalk extension over Donner Creek, a 2014 project. The DOT will install the bridge and the rest of the sidewalk.
The board also decided to spend $10,300 on 40 more parking spaces at Day Road Park. It also approved spending $15,000 on labor and $2,342 on materials to repair three waterline breaks in the past month: at South Transit and Robinson Roads, on Kimberly Drive and on Keck Road. Klavoon said a fire hydrant also had to be replaced at the latter site.
email: tprohaska@buffnews.com