Vote on proposed Darien water district expected to take place in mid-April

Barring any unforeseen roadblocks, owners of property located in the Town of Darien’s proposed Water District No. 6 will have their chance to vote in mid-April on a $25 million public water project.

Town Supervisor David Hagelberger, speaking by telephone this afternoon, said a paper ballot election will be run by town employees on or around April 10, likely between noon and 8 p.m., at the Town Hall.

“This election will decide whether this water district will go through,” Hagelberger said, adding that the exact date is expected to be announced at the Town Board’s next meeting at 7:30 p.m. March 6.

Several weeks ago it was reported on The Batavian that a “permissive referendum” – where residents in the proposed district were compelled to get enough signatures to force a vote – would be the guiding force for action.

That fell through, however, Hagelberger said, due to the fact that certain parameters of the referendum were not published in the allowed time limit.

“The residents did get enough signatures to force a vote, and we were going to do that anyway,” Hagelberger said. “In effect, the timing issue is moot. The mandatory referendum in April is set up for property owners to come in and vote.”

The supervisor said there are about 1,400 possible voters considering that people who own multiple properties only get one vote. Citizens representing a business, a church in the district and the cemetery association also get one vote.

“There are no absentee ballots either,” Hagelberger said. “Property owners have to be there to have their votes count.”

Hagelberger said the town board reported at its last meeting that the Genesee County Board of Elections will not be running the election due to constraints in state law.

“We were told that we have to run it and we’re doing what needs to be done,” he said. “There’s a lot of work going on right now that most people don’t realize.”

He said the town is working with the assessor and county clerk’s office to review property deeds to determine the correct number of property owners. The town also has to pay election inspectors, for books for people to sign and to build the property owner list.

The estimated cost to the town will be several thousand dollars, Hagelberger said.

The proposal to supply public water to an estimated 2.095 residents (two-thirds of the town’s population) comes with an annual cost of $1,275 per household -- $914 to cover the project’s debt distribution and $361 to cover water supply, operations and maintenance costs.

Due to increasing construction costs and interest rates, the project’s total price tag has gone up from $24.8 million to $25.25 million. The town is pursuing a $10.82 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to defray some of the cost.

Upfront costs to property owners, estimated at $2,000 for each parcel, will be required to pay for meter changes, account setup fees, service lines and well abandonment and/or separation fees.

The proposal to create the water district was presented initially in the fall of 2016 via a couple public meetings.