The Village of Saugerties will begin test drilling for a secondary water supply at Winston Farm, site of the Woodstock ’94 Festival, over the next couple of weeks as the clock ticks down on state funding that can be used for the work.
Mayor Bill Murphy said New York State told village officials in February they’d only have one year to use up the rest of a $3 million grant that area communities received after hurricanes Irene and Sandy or the funds would be redirected elsewhere.
He said officials are also racing the clock to meet a more immediate deadline that requires more than 90 percent of the plan to be in place by August. He said if the potential well is viable, which will take about six weeks to determine, they’ll move forward with the plan. A pump house would need to be constructed on a small part of the property with a public easement to allow for water department officials to access the well and equipment, he added.
“If not we’ll have to come up with another plan,” Murphy said.
The mayor said some of the funds have already gone to a $400,000 bulkhead at Tina Chorvas Park, new sidewalks and a new pre-filtration plant at the water plant with a capability to store three million gallons of water.
Murphy said he’s not too concerned if things get delayed again while they need to seek out a new location. “It’s all politics; they’re not going to take it away,” he added.
The village has sought a new water supply to meet growth for years, and with an aquifer coursing underneath, Winston Farm fit the bill, he said. The plan was to acquire a one-acre portion of the property, which would be enough for the pumphouse and other needed equipment. The long-time owners were receptive to the idea. A sale of the property in 2020 to local developers John Mullen, Anthony Montano and Randy Richers caused a minor hiccup in the plan; they didn’t like the location of the proposed well.
“They’re planning big things for the property,” Murphy said. “There’s a lot going in there.”
The village was flexible.
“They asked if we could find a new location to drill,” he said. “The new location we’re looking at is only 100 feet away.”
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