By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM – A new run of sewer and water lines north on State Rt. 56 is a proposal the Town of Potsdam will be considering as an incentive to business and residential development.

Supervisor Rollin Beattie of Norwood, who this month succeeded Marie Regan, says that the town awaits an engineering report before taking the idea any farther.

Beattie and town councilors, including the newest member, Ann Carvill, were sworn in at their meeting Tuesday. Also renewing her oath was Town Clerk Cindy Goliber, who is beginning her 21st year in town government.

While they wait for the engineer’s report on the water and sewer proposal, “We don’t know how that’s going to go. Money’s tight,” Beattie said. “There are grants and loans available, but we have to find out the cost before we can bring it to a public meeting,” Beattie said.

“Sometimes the state will grant money and support for sewer and not water, and sometimes water and not sewer, and sometimes both. It would be best to do it all at once” if it can be worked out, he said.

If the town ultimately wants to go ahead with the plan, “sometime we’ll have a public hearing, form a district, and then people will have to vote on it. Only people along the route would vote,” Beattie said.

Beattie said the inspiration for the idea is the belief that a reliable good-quality water supply “will bring in more business. The car dealers would like it, since they could get fire sprinklers in there.” As for sewer service, in addition to businesses, homeowners will be relieved of the constant maintenance of septic waste tanks. And, Beattie said, the services will “improve property values” and raise the tax base.

“We would like to buy the water from the village,” Beattie said. “That would save us a lot of money” if the town doesn’t have to build and run a water treatment plant of its own. The town’s service might require a new water tower, but the 300,000 gallon water tower erected when the Lowe’s home improvement store was built might be adequate, he said.

The sewer line could run “directly to Unionville and tie into the sewage plant there.”

Considering that proposal and all the expenses the town ordinarily incurs, the main goal of town government should be “to keep costs down as much as we can. We try to spend money wisely,” Beattie said.

One big recent expense is the $184,000 the town is spending for a new snowplow truck to replace one recently retired after an accident with it in December 2014. That truck was declared a total loss after the plow on it broke through the snow right down into the pavement, causing it to tip over.

Highway Superintendent John Keleher said the insurance check was used for the down payment on the new truck, which is being obtained through a three-year lease-purchase deal.

Meanwhile, he said, there are two trucks – one a 1994 model and one from 1997 – that they are hoping to replace once the new truck is paid for.