Published: March 18, 2008 12:32 am            

CAMBRIA: Town rules out gas line project

CAMBRIA — The town board has ruled out having a natural gas line installed along Upper Mountain Road in conjunction with an upcoming water line project.

The board decided that converting town facilities to natural gas would not be cost efficient, according to Supervisor Wright Ellis.

The board previously had the town’s engineer, Wendel Duchscherer Architects and Engineers, hold off bidding out the water line replacement project to see what costs would be incurred by having the gas line laid simultaneously for town use.

In the end, Ellis said, the difficulties of coordinating with National Fuel, and the cost of converting or replacing the town’s existing propane furnaces and heaters, made the gas project less than attractive.

Raw savings from using gas instead of propane appeared to be about 50 percent, but once conversion costs were factored the savings was cut to 25 percent. Paying off the cost of installing the line thus would have taken longer than anyone wanted, Ellis said.

Also, gas line laid in tandem with water line would have ended up in public right-of-way on the south side of Upper Mountain, meaning National Fuel would need to obtain easements for maintenance purposes. The company prefers to put its lines further away from public roads, on private property.

“When we looked at all that, and crunched the numbers, it didn’t come out quite as encouraging,” Ellis said.

National Fuel is committed to surveying 30 households on Upper Mountain Road, from Shawnee Road to Cambria Road, to determine their level of interest in gas service, Ellis said. The town’s midsection does not have service from any gas company now. Inquiry letters are to be sent to the homes.

The low bidder on the water line project will be selected next month. The town previously OK’d a $600,000 project to replace a mile’s worth of line on Upper Mountain.

In other business last week, the board:

• Approved 2007 service awards for 51 volunteer firefighters in two companies serving the town. Thirty-two of 48 volunteers in the Cambria company and 19 of 29 volunteers in the Pekin company will receive a credit of $550 each in a state retirement program. The credit is paid by the town, through fire district tax, on behalf of those volunteers who earned at least 50 service “points” in a calendar year; points are awarded for attending meetings, holding office, and participating in emergency response or fund-raising activities. When the volunteers reach age 62, they receive whatever the town paid on their behalf over the years.

• Approved appointment of Thomas Gregson to the Board of Assessment Review to complete the unfinished term of Bill Knab. BAR members are paid a stipend of $65 per day that the board meets.

• Approved a title change for Ellis’ confidential secretary, Lynn Schlemmer, who is now an administrative assistant but will not receive a pay raise; a transfer for Deborah Littier, part-time clerk typist, to the assessor’s office from the water department; and appointment of Karen Singleton, part-time clerk typist, to the water department.

• Approved a proposal by Wendel Duchscherer to research and design two interpretive signs for the recently completed nature trail in the town park. According to Ellis, the firm was asked to come up with designs or ways for Boy Scout Troop 8 members to be involved for purposes of several Eagle Scout projects. The research/design contract is for $4,500.

• Wendel also is hired to complete the town’s 2007 stormwater report for the state and represent the town at eight meetings of the Western New York Stormwater Coalition this year. The firm’s fee for that work is $2,500.

        

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