Several members of both the Fleischmanns' Village Board of Trustees and the Fleischmanns' Village Planning Board, along with Vaughan Leer of Rettew Engineering, have taken several field trips to examine various types of sewer treatment plant technologies.
The first sewer treatment plant, located in Lancaster, Pa. is a relatively low tech plant called an S.B.R. (Serial Batch Reactor). It cost about $4,000,000 to construct and is manned by one person working several hours a day.
The second sewer treatment plant, located in Grand Gorge, NY is an extremely high tech plant costing about $50,000,000 to build, and requires eight full time workers to operate.
Large questions remaining to be resolved with New York City are business user fees, payment for ongoing maintenance of the plant, and payment for replacement costs after the useful life (estimated to be about twenty years) of the plant has expired.
The Village Board of Trustees were brought up to date on several issues at its meeting on Monday, 8 November. Fleischmanns has been slightly downgraded in its standing to the number three spot, behind Hunter and Windham for sewers. Additionally, the acceptance of septage at our plant was discussed. While no final decision has been reached on this issue, the feeling of the Board was disinclination to do so as septage causes wild fluctuations in the biological processes at work in the plant which might necessitate the hiring of additional personnel.
