Village Cove homeowners look to dedicate road to village

Warwick — Homeowners in Village Cove, a 40-unit condo development just off West Street, are doing their homework. The goal: to dedicate their cul-de-sac to the Village of Warwick. What stands in the way, though, may be costly and time consuming. Several residents of Village Cove approached the village about taking over control of the road. This is usually done at the completion of most building projects. However, this road was kept as a private road, meaning all upkeep is paid for by residents. Some time ago, according to Charlie Papaceno, a resident of Village Cove who sits on the development’s Board of Managers, the homeowner’s board began discussing dedicating the road. “We looked into the advantages and disadvantages,” said Papaceno. “We thought we’d look and see what the cost would be, then go back to the homeowners and decide from there.” The advantages were pretty obvious. Road maintenance would be covered by their village taxes, and that includes snow removal. Currently, anyone on a private road must pay for repairs, plowing, resurfacing—anything that needs to be done on that road. However, the disadvantages began to crop up. First is the loss of privacy. Not many cars will head down a cul-de-sac whether the village owns it or not. But, as a private road, fewer cars make the trip. Right now, cost is still unknown. When the village accepts dedication of a road, it also accepts everything that is underneath it. That includes water mains and sewers. The Village Cove Board of Managers talked to the Village Board to determine whether the village already owned the sewer and water systems. Looks like they may have split the ticket. According to Mayor Michael Newhard, the sewer system was already in place before the condos were built in 1998, “so that wasn’t a big issue.” The water is a different story. The village supplies water to the development but the mains and laterals are not the property of the village. They would have to be in compliance with state and village code for the village to accept them. “The village engineer must make sure this won’t weaken the village’s water system,” said Michael Meth, the village’s attorney. The Village Cove development has PVC pipe carrying its water, while most of the village has cast iron and ductal iron piping. But it is not the only area in the village with PVC. Steve Sisco, Department of Public Works supervisor, said that Warwick Meadows also has PVC mains and pipes. The village owns those mains. “So, there you go. We have precedent,” said Newhard. But the homeowners must still hire an engineer to scope the system—that is, send a device down into the water system to show it is sound. “We have to be careful with costs because many of our residents are retired and on fixed incomes,” said Jane Reilly, a Village Cove resident. After the scoping is done, the village’s engineer must review the results and make his recommendation. Then, there are more issues. Like set-backs. Village Cove does not meet the village code with set-backs. The Board of Managers would have to apply to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a variance on the set-back. But that’s down the road, so to speak. “We aren’t moving ahead until we can determine the costs,” said Papaceno. “We’ll try to get all of the issues cleared up before we move forward.”