For Immediate Release
BH-BL BPA Advocates In Favor of the Proposed Rte 50 Sewer District

The mission of the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Business & Professional Business Association, Inc. (BH-BL BPA) is to encourage, support and promote business in the footprint of the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Central School District that encompasses the Town(s) of Ballston, Charlton, Clifton Park and Glenville and enhance the quality of life in that and surrounding areas. The BHBLBPA is actively engaged in making our community a better place to live. We feel that the Proposed Rte 50 Sewer Project fits in perfectly with our mission. In fact, many of our members work and live within the Proposed Rte 50 Sewer District.

Our members recognize that the Hamlet of Burnt Hills, within the Town of Ballston, currently has a unique, albeit fleeting opportunity to install sewers along a portion of Route 50 to include some adjoining neighborhoods. There are numerous advantages that we see for those in the proposed sewer district which is why we urge owners to consider all the facts when voting on April 18th at the Town of Ballston Town Hall.

Sewers will increase property value and therefore home equity for owners within the Rte 50 Proposed Sewer District. Since the Rte 50 Proposed Sewer District is adjacent to the Ballston Lake sewer project already approved and underway, the cost to provide sewers to the Proposed Rte 50 Sewer District would be reduced by 40%. This large potential project cost advantage is available for weeks, not months or years. Since the Ballston Lake Sewer Project is already approved and underway, time is of the essence as engineering decisions made now will impact project cost and feasibility of Rte 50 Sewers in Burnt Hills in the very near future.

NYS grants available for environmental projects like these could subsidize this project by another $2.5 Million, reducing costs to owners. The project grant submission for the Proposed Rte 50 Sewer Project scores higher for merit than the Ballston Lake Sewer Project grant application did when it was submitted. Because that project was awarded a NYS grant funding of $2.5 million to offset costs to those in the new Ballston Lake Sewer District, the project team feels they are well positioned for a grant of similar size.

Other drivers making this project relevant now include a number of aging and failing septic systems within the Proposed Rte 50 Sewer District. The urgency of action is substantiated through water quality testing which have demonstrated negative impacts of these failing septic systems to the Alplaus Tributary which feeds the Mohawk River, a source of drinking water to neighboring communities. Doing nothing now does not make the health and environmental issues go away. Owners runs the risk of more expensive DEC-mandated solutions in the future if this project is voted down next week.

Though the Proposed Rte 50 Sewers Project is being driven by  public health and environmental concerns, the land owners, both businesses and residents, within the proposed district will benefit immediately, directly and substantially. The important  thing to remember this is a limited time offer. One that may potentially not resurface again in our lifetimes. The  Burnt Hills, Ballston Lake Business and Professional Association fully supports the Proposed Rte 50 Sewers Project.

Media Contact: Rick Noel, BH-BL BPA President, bhblbpa.com.

Vote informed: