State OKs Scotts Corners water district

By THANE GRAUEL

The New York State Comptroller’s Office has approved the formation of the Scotts Corners Water District, though a pending lawsuit appeal has yet to be resolved.

The Pound Ridge Town Board on Tuesday acknowledged the state’s action, which came with conditions, in a brief discussion.

The document from the state Department of Audit and Control stated it found “that the public interest will be served by the establishment of Scotts Corners Water District in the Town of Pound Ridge in accordance with such applications” and “that the cost of the proposed Scotts Corners Water District will not be an undue burden upon the property therein in accordance with such application.”

The almost $11 million project to pipe clean water into the business district from the Aquarion system’s water tank at the Pound Ridge Golf Club along the Connecticut border is intended to fix decades-old problems with groundwater contamination. Various chemicals, ranging from an old gas station tank leak to more recently targeted PFAS “forever chemicals,” have been detected.

In October 2024, property owners in the district approved the water district’s formation, as did later Town Board votes. But a challenge was filed by a property owner in the state Supreme Court. The case, Donna P. Simons versus the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation and others, alleged that the town made misrepresentations in its state application. The suit failed, but an appeal is pending.

How that will play out has yet to be seen, so the state’s action could be viewed with something of an asterisk.

Westchester Avenue in Scotts Corners. IRINA S.B. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Contingent approval

The state’s recent approval also specified it was for the dollar costs stated by the town, and was based on the information it was provided.

“However, my approval pursuant to this statute is based on the information reported in the application and should be in no way construed as a determination as to the factual accuracy of information in the application,” Deputy Comptroller Robin L. Lois wrote on behalf of State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. “That judgement rests with the appropriate Town of Pound Ridge, New York officials. My approval herein only reflects that the public interest, and the estimated costs set forth in the application would not constitute an undue burden upon the property owners within the District.”

John McCown, a former candidate for town supervisor who has expressed doubts about the true costs of the water project and what taxpayers might actually foot the bill, had questions Tuesday for Town Board members.

“What does it change and what does it not change? For instance, will the board now be moving ahead and spending resources on engineering and other items, even with the litigation now in the courts?” he asked. “What actions, if any, does the town have to take to form the district? Or has that happened automatically with the comptroller’s office approval?”

Who will govern?

Among additional questions, McCown asked what form the district will take as a governing body and who will be on it.

If the project did not move forward, McCown asked who would foot the bill for costs already incurred, such as the $960,000 engineering design. If it were the taxpayers at large, not just those in the district, that would violate promises that were made at the onset, McCown said.

John Nathan, a local lawyer, also asked that officials provide an explanation of what the approval does and doesn’t mean.

“I would say that the approval says what the approval says,” said Jill Faber of Barnegat Road. “It’s plain, it’s a legal document … it speaks for itself.”

Nathan spoke again, noting the comptroller’s “however” clause and that the facts in the application the town filed with the state are questioned by the pending appeal.

Courts will have a say

“When you look at this piece of paper, it does some things, and it also doesn’t do some things,” Nathan said. “What it doesn’t do is approve anything that’s in the application, and that is a matter that’s up to the courts.”

That led to a back-and-forth between Nathan and Faber. Town Board member Dan Paschkes broke in and said the litigation wouldn’t be settled that night, and pointed to the comptroller’s statement saying judgement of the accuracy of the facts in the application rested with town officials.

“That’s us,” Paschkes said.

Supervisor Kevin Hansan was not at the meeting.

“This is just to let the public know that this was received,” Town Attorney William Harrington said. “That’s it. The language that was cited, standard language. ”