With County Approval, New Castle Prepares for Sewer Extension Logistics

New Castle officials are making plans for the next steps in order to bring sewers to several neighborhoods .

Supervisor Susan Carpenter and Town Administrator Penny Padrewski told the Millwood Task Force at its Jan. 5 meeting that they have to look at the financing and engineering challenges for the work.

“It’s incredible, the amount of agencies that we have to go through," Padrewski said, noting that several permits will be needed.

Meetings with engineers are already taking place for the plans, Padrewski said, and cost estimates will be needed. Funding will come from $10 million in East of Hudson funding that the county will release to New Castle.

The funds will go towards the extensions for Riverwoods, Random Farms and Yeshiva Farm, which will involve a major lengthening of the county's existing trunk line up from Route 100 in Briarcliff. The three neighborhoods are around the northern section of town. In addition, Chappaqua Crossing will have a minor lengthening of an adjacent line as part of its sewer district extension.

It is too early to have a specific time table for bringing in the sewers, Padrewski explained.

“There isn’t any way that we can have a time table at this point," she said.

Future extension into the Millwood business district came up again. As currently planned, the proposed extended pipe will be going through the county owned bike path in Millwood but without connecting to businesses, which would require another round of county approval.

Carpenter said that she wants to see an extension for Millwood, although for now she is focused on the work for the recently approved extensions.

“All of us believe that it would be great for Millwood to be hooked in," she said.

Hala Makowska, who chairs the Millwood Board of Fire Commissioners and cares about extending the sewer into downtown Millwood, told Carpenter that she would like to see as few strings attached as possible to receiving East of Hudson funds. Her concern is that, with an eventual term sheet for the release of funds, there could be a restriction of the extent in which the hamlet's downtown can be developed should it get sewers.

In the early 2000s, a term sheet was signed for a previous project in the region that Makowska feels could be restrictive for Millwood development, although whether or not it can still be enforced is in question. Carpenter told Makowska that the term sheet does not have restrictions like a statute would.