Town board addresses Wickham Village water quality concerns at latest meeting

The Town of Warwick has taken steps to address concerns about dirty water in Wickham Village, Water Department Deputy Commissioner Matthew McPherson reported at the Sept. 10 town board meeting. McPherson stated that after receiving many complaints about dirty water from residents in the Wickham Village, they conducted a well rehabilitation in the area. According to McPherson, residents should see results from that rehabilitation soon.

Warwick Town Supervisor Jesse Dwyer said the town was focusing on vulnerabilities in the Wickham water district, and were looking into potentially combining the district with another nearby to potentially mitigate some of the issues residents are experiencing with their wells.

Red dye coming through the water

Kevin Bowsoff, a resident of Wickham Knolls, claimed he spent a lot of time trying to mitigate water issues in his home, including red dye that has been coming into his house through the water. He said he had to change his water filter every week, when in most homes this is done every three months. He displayed a clean water filter compared to a water filter that had been recently changed in his neighborhood, which was completely covered in black sediment.

Bowsoff asked the board to consider credits or refunds to the individuals who live in the neighborhood. Dwyer stated that he is unsure if the town can provide any discounts on water services, since they are still receiving water, but understood that the quality of the water needs to be addressed and solved. He stated that he would look into the legality behind the issue.

South Street Bridge concerns

During the meeting, Dwyer addressed the concerns around South Street Bridge. According to the supervisor, the Department of Transportation alerted them to a concern with the stability of the bridge, and upon recommendation, the town has started limiting traffic along the bridge.

“We identified that there were no immediate safety concerns, and that the public could continue to travel safely over the bridge,” said the supervisor. “What was done yesterday was we redirected a portion of traffic in the southbound lane on South Street Bridge to push traffic away from the curb and more into the center of the bridge.”

There is a three-ton maximum limit set on the bridge currently.

Town addresses possible tax exemption for veterans

Dwyer also discussed a new state law that provides local authority over increasing veterans exemptions for property taxes, essentially eliminating property taxes for disabled veterans under a certain criteria. The supervisor stated that the criteria is not well defined, so the board will not be enacting the law until they have a greater understanding of the criteria.

“We obviously support our veterans and certainly our disabled veterans. We want to make sure that we’re very clear on this law before we move forward on it,” said Dwyer.

Town adjusts battery storage law

Dwyer updated the status on the new battery storage law for the town, stating that a minor adjustment was made after Orange & Rockland came to the board with concerns on how the law would affect public utilities. The adjusted law now provides a “pathway” in which public utility companies can potentially be approved for various projects.

“It does not create an automatic ‘go’ for the public utility. It creates a pathway for them to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Zoning Board can evaluate the characteristics of what they’re trying to do,” said Dwyer.

A resolution to pass the new battery storage law was proposed at the meeting, and was unanimously passed in a motion. Another resolution to enact the new towing policy law, which had a public hearing at the most recent meeting, was also passed.

A new section of land was added to the Town of Warwick Community Preservation Project Plan during the new business section of the meeting. A section of land on Robin Brae was determined to fit the qualifications of being added into the protected land of Warwick, adding more acreage to Warwick’s preservation program.

Remembering 9/11

Dwyer opened the meeting with a statement on the 25th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks.

“Our community lost neighbors, friends and family members that day. Among them were firefighters who left their home here in Warwick, and went to work that morning never knowing that they would be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice,” said Dwyer. “Warwick’s connections to September 11th did not end when the smoke cleared over Lower Manhattan.”