By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM -- The Potsdam Town Council has approved getting engineering reports on proposals for new water and sewer districts north of the village along State Rt. 56.

The development would be aimed at business and residential development.

Town Supervisor Rollin Beattie says with the vote to approve the studies at the board's meeting Tuesday, a representative of engineering consultants C2AE will get to work and return with an update on their preliminary findings in April.

The engineering consultants, C2AE, has several offices in Michigan and one in Canton.

C2AE will provide a rundown and an estimate of available grant funding and of costs to town taxpayers for the plan, which is for new water and sewer lines along Route 56.

The two engineering studies together, for the water and sewer plans, will cost $40,000 which, with grants, will cost the town a total of $10,000.

C2AE will provide construction plans and cost estimates and a survey of what kind of federal and state grant funding will be available.

They will do "all that has to be done before we can present the proposal for the districts to the public," Beattie said. "We have to find out the cost before we can bring it to a public meeting," he said.

After the studies are complete the town can begin the process of setting up the water and sewer districts with a vote by people within the proposed districts.

Beattie has 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.

The current estimate of the cost of the project, from consultant's reports to laying pipe, is $6 50 $7 million.

Beattie said the town has been seeking availability of Village of Potsdam water, "which would save us a lot of money" over the alternative of tying into the water and sewer plants at Unionville, outside the village, "but the village doesn't seem to want to" make their facilities available to the town project.