From left are Robin Miller, North Harmony town bookkeeper, Robert Yates, North Harmony town supervisor, and Town Board members Louise Ortman, Richard Sena, Nikiel Adams, and Bruce M. Pfeil.

STOW – North Harmony is not moving forward with a long-discussed municipal water project.

Though discussions have been ongoing for multiple years, Town Supervisor Robert Yates stated that it is too much of a burden on taxpayers and not wanted by enough residents in the town.

The announcement took place at the most recent Town Board meeting on Oct. 14 after a very long period of consideration. The town had initially begun by looking into the creation of a water district in the Ashville and Ashville Bay areas, according to Yates. The town began to look into the creation of this water district following the Chautauqua County Health Department alerting the town to high levels of bacteria in many of the private water wells in that area, said Yates. The town wishes to bring in this municipal water to provide a public option for people to choose from.

This prompted the town to move forward with a study to plan the process of this project, according to Yates. While this study did cost the town $50,000, Yates noted that the town was reimbursed for these costs after four years. Yates stated that the town had reached the goal of assessed value for Ashville and Ashville Bay of 51%, said Yates. This was the amount needed to legally move forward with the project. This all began due to the county having extra money remaining from the American Rescue Plan Act funding, according to Yates. Yates stated that this resulted in the county reaching out to the town to see if there would be interest in bringing a line to the town that would run up to the town of Chautauqua. While Chautauqua initially expressed interest, they later backed out due to the high costs that would come with running water through multiple towns, said Yates. This led the town to go forward with considering the creation of a new district within that region, according to Yates.

However, there was a large amount of negative outcry from residents where the district would be located. That opposition ultimately led to the board members to decide that it is not in the best interest of the town to move forward with the water district creation or the municipal water plans for Ashville or Ashville Bay. Yates noted that the town was attempting to create a water district in 1986, which was also met with a large amount of retaliation. Little change has occurred in public opinion on the creation of a water district since then. Yates noted that many residents close to the lake are already having difficulties making payments for the sewer expansion project, despite phase two not being complete yet. Yates stated that adding an additional financial burden to residents, through the approval of the municipal water project, is not only unjust, but unethical. Yates also noted that the town is not prepared, in terms of code and zoning, for water to come up R-394 to the lake area, stating that it is not the right time for a town experiencing growing pains.

Councilwoman Louise Ortman also made note of the difficulties to implement this project right after the completion of phase one of the sewer district extension. Ortman noted that residents are paying about $960 each year for the sewer project plus the one time hook up fee, which can be thousands for some. Ortman stated that to take on this project right now would add too much additional financial burden to the taxpayers. Ortman mentioned having talked to many residents on their opinions pertaining to bringing municipal water to those areas. A majority of the people opposed to the plan seemed strongly opposed, whereas those in support only seemed to have a soft support, according to Ortman. Ortman also noted that a majority of the people she spoke to were a part of the oppositional group.

Councilman Bruce M. Pfeil had some slightly differing residential stories than Ortman. Pfeil mentioned that there are two residents that live nearby him who take water from the lake. This has resulted in those neighbors having salt in their water, and thus advocating heavily for the municipal water project, said Pfeil. While Pfeil noted that it is not an ideal time for the town to invest in municipal water, he stated his beliefs on its importance and his positivity that it will come one day.

“I think water will be here in our town someday. It may not be today, but it’s going to come. This may not be the most advantageous time to bring it, but we get it’s a utility. If you have water you don’t want it; if you don’t have good water, you want it,” said Pfeil.

While the idea may be revisited in the future, all members seemed to be in strong agreement that a municipal water project would be harmful to both residents and the town from a financial aspect now.