KEENE — An engineering proposal to fix a capacity problem with the Keene Valley water system was presented to the Keene Town Board last week by the engineering firm AES Northeast of Plattsburgh.

The state Department of Health issued a letter in April to the town of Keene identifying items to be addressed within one year involving the capacity of Well No. 2 for the Keene Valley Water System, Water District No. 2.

The town was cited for the lack of Well No. 2’s capacity to meet demands if Water District No. 2’s larger capacity well was out of service, as Well No. 2 serves as a redundant and backup well for the system. The second item was the evaluation of well head protection and monitoring well head protection with recommendations for improvements.

AES Northeast Principal Civil Engineer Todd Hodgson presented AES Northeast’s proposal to the board at the meeting, and reported a preliminary cost estimate of $284,000 for AES Northeast to complete a replacement of Well No. 2, which may be necessary.

Hodgson and a state DOH representative in attendance cited a need for improved capacity of the well as soon as possible in order to avoid a lack of water supply to members of the community in the event Water District No. 2’s Well No. 1 suffered a problem of its own or was overburdened, which nearly happened during a dry period last summer, town board members said.

“To sum it up is, if we don’t move forward in a positive direction, and the well does go down, it’s a disaster,” Keene Town Supervisor Bill Ferebee said.

“We got lucky last summer,” added Councilman Bob Biesemeyer.

“We’ve got to move forward,” Ferebee said.

Hodgson and the state DOH representative made it a point that there is no problem currently with the quality of Keene Valley’s water, just the potential quantity.

For its proposal, AES Northeast developed a phase one investigation of the Keene Valley Water System including three tasks. At an estimated cost of $25,200, it’d be the first part of the process the town would undertake if it decides to go ahead with the proposal. Council members, including Biesemeyer, expressed caution at the project considering its listed price at last week’s meeting. They decided in the end to have a subsequent meeting where a hydrogeologist would present to them on the matter.

The first task AES Northeast recommended as part of phase one is to review and assess information on existing wells and site hydrogeology — the water occurring underground or on the surface of the earth — estimated at $9,700. This would include the review of prior work done on the well and assembling data specific to the capacity and protection of the existing aquifer and well head from which water is being drawn.

The second task is to geophysically survey the well site, estimated at $11,500. AES Northeast summarized it as resistivity studies and computer modeling of the subsurface terrain for locating optimal locations for drilling.

The third task is an engineering evaluation of AES Northeast’s findings, estimated at $4,000. If the board decided to go ahead with AES Northeast’s phase one investigation, the findings of the engineering evaluation would be presented to the board for further action. The evaluation would consist of reporting and cost estimating based on the findings of a potential additional well target at the existing site.

AES Northeast listed potential additional costs, if determined necessary by the proposed investigation, including $4,000 to $6,000 per geophysical survey and an undisclosed amount for pump testing or camera inspection of wells.

The outgoing supervisor, Ferebee, who submitted his letter of resignation at the end of last week’s meeting, said if the town decides to undertake a project with an estimated cost of $300,000 to fix the problem, user fees wouldn’t be raised for those in the water district.

Ferebee said the town currently has about $286,000 in fund balance reserves for Water District No. 2 and could use $200,000 for the project, the remaining $100,000 coming from borrowing via a bond.

Even if the town had to borrow the full amount of $300,000, he said user rates wouldn’t increase, as the town is currently paying back the state Environmental Facilities Corporation for over-funded money for Water District No. 2. He said the cost to the town of any new debt incurred by the proposed project would be covered by pre-existing payments the town is making to the EFC.

Ferebee resigned his position as supervisor to take a position with the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo as a community resource liaison for the EFC.

“It sounds to me though, this discussion, what we can afford to do, is start to look for water,” Biesemeyer said at the end of the meeting. “If we go ahead and proceed, get the hydrogeologist here, check it out.”

“If it’s the way I’m explaining it, there’s no reason to raise (the cost to taxpayers) at all,” Ferebee said. “Zero.”