Published: May 14, 2008 01:45 pm            

LYNDONVILLE: Water lines to be mapped

LYNDONVILLE — Water comes into and is dispersed throughout the village through the most convenient of means — pipes.

But where are they all? Certainly the first answer is underground, but even with knowing that, it may be difficult in the future to locate them.

Public Works Superintendent Terry Woodworth has been with the village’s water treatment plant for 34 years, but that’s not to say that once he retires, others who come on board will know the location of all the pipes, valves and mains.

“All the pipes we’ve got in the village ... up to this point only God knows where they all are,” said Mayor Marc Scarr.

Monday evening, Scarr announced that the village would be able to add a $5,000 grant to the ever-increasing list of funds the small government has been able to secure over the past few years, as an emphasis has been made on grant-writing. The joint member item from state Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane, and Assemblyman Stephen Hawley, R-Batavia, will be used to map the water system, water treatment plant and to perform a water treatment capacity analysis.

“In the long run, it’s going to improve the service to the village,” Maziarz said. “The mapping of water lines is very important to them.”

Additionally, Maziarz said the mapped information might make it easier for the village to obtain funding from state government agencies for future projects.

Having the opportunity to have the mapping done was important to Woodworth because, even though he is not planning his retirement just yet, the information needs to be available for the next DPW superintendent who may not have the decades-long history he has with the department and working on the lines.

“It’s something I had wanted to get done before I leave here,” Woodworth said. “I grew up with it. I’ve been here for 34 years and know where everything is.”

According to Woodworth, the village has between 7 and 8 miles of water pipes running throughout the approximate square-mile municipality.

“We’ve had, over the years, different projects where we’ve replaced water mains,” he said. There are several maps of the water lines, but they don’t cover the entire span of the village’s boundaries or all of the updated work that has been done. “We’re trying to get it all on one master map.”

By having a master map on hand, public works employees will know where to — and not to — dig when doing work on the village’s water lines. A master map would have been beneficial for Woodworth on Tuesday morning as he met with the ISO Insurance underwriter who wanted maps of the water lines, proving again that the project is important for the municipality.

Mapping the water lines is only part of the project, though. A portion of the money provided to the village will also go toward mapping the actual treatment facility to show where all of the valving is, along with underground wires such as electric lines, Woodworth said.

“It’s something that the village probably couldn’t do on their own,” Woodworth said of the cost to complete the project.

Scarr said the funds from Maziarz and Hawley should be able to cover a bulk of the cost for the project and it “certainly is helpful” that they were able to provide some assistance. Scarr estimated the total project cost to be between $6,000 and $7,000.

“We’re very thankful. Five thousand dollars for a little, small village is good for us,” Scarr said.

Contact reporter Miranda Vagg at 798-1400, ext. 2225.

        

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