Residents of Plains Road in New Paltz have filed a lawsuit to stop the creation of town water district 5 over their objections. The new water district is intended to replace private wells so homeowners don’t run the risk of theirs running dry when the village supplies its users during several upcoming shutdowns of the New York City aqueduct.
According to Mayor Tim Rogers, the defendants include both municipal governments, as well as each village trustee and town council member, property owner David Roehrs and City of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio are named individually. At the Wednesday Village Board meeting, Rogers said that attorneys had agreed upon a schedule for filing briefs and replies that would extend through most of August.
During a special meeting of the Town Board the following night, Jeff Logan said that the suit would cause unnecessary delays and expense. Whatever the town spends on litigating this case will be reimbursed by the New York City DEP once it’s dismissed, he said, but the village has no similar agreement. He expressed frustration that “people do not believe in the science,” and said that he found the suggestion that he and other officials aren’t looking out for environmental impacts to be “personally insulting.”
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