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CASSADAGA — Lily Dale residents were the only ones to attend the Cassadaga Village Board’s workshop session held to discuss proposed water rates. Lily Dale Board president Lynne Wiltsie and Assembly Executive Director Sue Glazier along with Lily Dale resident Bob Reuther heard what it will cost village and Lily Dale residents if the rates are adopted. According to figures worked out by Trustees Rudy Abersold and Rodney Waite, the payback of the $3 million borrowed for the village’s water development will require like payments for Cassadaga and Lily Dale residents. Under the proposed rates, beginning with the December billing cycle, residents of both communities will pay $190 annually for debt service and $3.25 per 1,000 gallons of water used. The Cassadaga Job Corps Academy, which is also a customer of Cassadaga’s water system, will be charged an annual debt service payment of $43,130 and 10 percent more per 1,000 gallons of water than the village and Lily Dale customers are charged. If the proposed rates are adopted by the village board, the new billings will be as follows: ¯ Village residents will see an annual debt service charge of $190 (this is $30 more than the current annual rate of $160); annual use charge for 14,000 gallons of water $45.50 for an annual bill of $235.50. ¯ A village household using an average of 42,000 gallons of water annually would pay $190 for debt service and $136.50 for water use, bringing the annual total bill to approximately $326.50. Lily Dale currently pays $6.42 per 1,000 gallons of water and has an annual bill of approximately $58,000. Under the proposed new rates, the Assembly would pay $40,850 for debt service and with a user rate of $3.25 per 1,000 gallons of water, would be charged $29,250 annually for a total of $70,100. The Assembly is currently charged $58,000 per year for the water Cassadaga supplies its residents. Cassadaga Job Corps currently pays $6.42 per 1,000 gallons of water with an annual payment of $61,000. Under the proposed rate, the Academy would be charged $43,272 for debt service and a water user rate of $3.57 per 1,000 gallons for an annual charge of $34,272. This would total $77,402 per year, compared to the current charge of $61,000. Under the proposed rate increase, in December 2010, the usage rate would increase to $3.50 per 1,000 gallons and in December 2011, it would increase to $3.75 per 1,000 gallons of water. These proposed rates will be considered again at the village board’s Oct. 7 meeting. Before leaving the meeting, Wiltsie said she considers the proposed rates fair to Lily Dale residents. “We need to consider what is best for our residents and I think we should talk about pooling our resources,” she said. Cassadaga Mayor LeeAnn Lazarony agreed. “There are a lot of ways to explore shared services,” she said. In official action, the village board agreed to hire Richard Lascola as clerk of the works for the Putnam Road project. Lascola served as the Village of Fredonia public works superintendent for more than 30 years before retiring four years ago. He has extensive experience with water projects and will receive $20 per hour for his services to the Cassadaga project.

 

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