The Ruisseaumont Sewer Project will be a joint project between the town and the village. The two systems are connected — there’s a village collection system, a village treatment plant and the town collection system that connects to the village system, explained Mark Suozzo from the engineering firm Suozzo, Doty and Associates.

A previous study showed that there were higher than normal levels of flow in the area along Ruisseaumont Way and along the back side of Mirror Lake from both rainfall and elevated ground water. This causes the village wastewater treatment plant to be flooded with additional clean water. The project, as recommended by the engineers at SDA, proposes using specialized techniques to line the sewer line and seal up the cracks and “other deficiencies.”

The town received bids from SDA and from another firm, MJ Engineering, Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Land Surveying. The town voted on Tuesday to accept the SDA bid.

“I’m totally impressed with Suozzo, and they’ve represented us so well,” Supervisor Derek Doty said, “both with securing financing and being so organized to keep us up to date with at least a half-a-dozen different projects.”

Demolition work on the Long Building at the North Elba Showgrounds was in progress on Wednesday. (Enterprise photo — Grace McIntyre)

SDA has helped the town with other projects including the Wesvalley Road Sidewalk Study, a Water and Sewer Capacity Analysis and the Athletic Field and Show Ground Conceptual Stormwater Analysis. Many changes at the showgrounds have already been implemented to improve the stormwater situation, Doty said.

In 2022, SDA worked on the water treatment plant upgrade and is currently in the design phase for upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant. For this project, the town applied for and received a $3.75 million grant from the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s WQIP program. SDA and the town will continue seeking additional grant funding for the $5.5 million project.

The board also formally approved the North Elba Showgrounds Master Plan, created with the help of the architecture and planning consultant firm SE Group. Work has already begun on the rebuilding of the Long Building — demolition started shortly after the I Love New York Horse Show concluded Sunday.

Excavators were breaking down the walls at the grounds on Wednesday. North Elba Park District Manager Jeremy Freeman said work on the foundations for the new building is likely to begin in August. The building will need to be completed before the horse shows next June.

As a final order of business during Tuesday’s meeting, the board approved two small grants from the cannabis taxation fund, which were requested to support youth programs. A sum of $875 was approved to buy golf balls for the youth golf program at Craig Wood Golf Course. The board also approved $2,500 to help cover additional supplies for Camp Placid.