POTSDAM – The village has secured $10.7 million in grants and loans for the renovation of its 46-year-old waste water treatment plant on Cherry Street.

The funding is through the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and New York State Water Grant.

In September the village was notified that its application to the EFC for $2,677,500 in grant funding had been approved.

The village also applied for a 30-year loan of $8,032,500 through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. The village qualified for hardship financing, so the loan's interest rate was reduced to zero percent.

Village Treasurer Lori Queor has signed the state's closing documents and submitted them to the Environmental Facilities Corporation. The closing date has been scheduled for October 27, according to Mayor Reinhold J. Tischler.

The village is in the design and permitting phase of the project and will be positioned to launch the project next spring.

Potsdam’s waste water treatment plant was placed in service in 1970 and has been in continuous operation since then. Major upgrades were made in 1997-98, but the plant as a whole is 46 years old and had outlasted its design life, according to village Office of Planning and development Director Fred Hanss. The proposed upgrades to the plant will maintain its capacity to accept waste water, conserve energy, and operate more efficiently.

The development of the renovation plan was prepared by the engineering firm of Barton and Loguidice. Technical support was provided to the village by the Development Authority of the North Country and village staff including the administrator, the clerk/treasurer, chief water and sewer plant operator, superintendent of public works and the village planner.

Mayor Tischler expressed his thanks to Gov. Cuomo, the EFC, NYS Assemblywoman Addie Russell, state Sen. Joseph Griffo and congresswoman Elise Stefanik for their support of the village's efforts to modernize its municipal infrastructure.

"The village's infrastructure, like that in many other communities, is decades old and in poor condition,” said Tischler. “Without the assistance of New York State it would be impossible for the village to secure the capital funding needed at a rate affordable to village rate-payers.” He noted that the village still has applications pending for grant funding with the USDA Rural Development Program and the NYS Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program. If secured these grants would be used to offset long-term debt.

Over the last year, the village has focused its efforts on upgrading its water, waste water and storm water management infrastructure. In addition to the waste water plant renovations, the village has undertaken a major effort to identify and repair leaks in the water distribution system, will make improvements to the Cross-Town Canal to reduce the risk of flooding during major storm events, and will renovate the water tower on Clarkson Hill, Hanss said.

For more information, contact Village Administrator Everett Basford at 265-7480.