BY PAUL MITCHELLNorth Country This Week

CANTON - The village board’s Infrastructure Committee has put in some overtime to assess the damage from the Aug. 9 flooding.

Mayor Michael Dalton did not paint a pretty picture in his comprehensive report to village trustees and the handful of village residents in attendance at Wednesday night’s monthly board meeting.

“Heavy damage was caused due to the rain event on the 9th with over 6.75 inches in a short period of time,” Dalton reported. “Sullivan Drive washed out leaving limited emergency access to the apartment building and to Partridge Knoll and all parks were flooded when the Grasse reached a historic level, with heavy damage to all.”

Flooding closed Taylor Park for the summer season and a New York State swift water team had to rescue a family from the park.

“Damage was unprecedented in all our parks,” he said.

Sewer treatment operations were out for a substantial period of time when the main lift station flooded. A fire truck and three 4” trailer mounted pumps pumped directly into the river.

“A damage assessment to replace much of the equipment is approximately $1.5 million,” the mayor said.

Homeland security provided high capacity pumps for the village Saturday morning [Aug. 10] and they are still in place if needed. Water flows at the sewer bar screens couldn’t be measured after the 9 million gallons per day mark because the sensor was 2 feet under water, Dalton noted.

“Crews repaired Sullivan drive by Saturday evening but will need to be made permanent. Fire crews have had several more calls for service since as the high water table is still a problem,” he continued.

The lift station is functioning about 60% now. Consideration needs to be given to raise all the pumps and switch gear to a level that is above grade and that is not part of this $1.5 million estimate, he said.

“We’re up and running but quite tenuous. There’s a tremendous amount of stress on our system right now. We are limping along right now,” Dalton stated. “We’re hanging on by a thread but we’re making progress.”

The mayor stressed the importance of homeowners and businesses to report all damages associated with flooding. A form is available on the town and village website.

“There’s a lot to think about. There will be resiliency money down the road but will need documentation,” stated Dalton who noted the fire department has kept very good records of storm damage.