[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Hammondsport 7-24-2018 by L.L. No. 1-2018. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
A.
The purpose of this chapter is to establish a sewage disposal benefit area within the Village of Hammondsport. The benefit area would only serve a portion of the Village. This benefit area is more particularly delineated on a map prepared by Fagan Engineers dated July 2018, which this chapter shall hereinafter incorporate by reference. The properties to be served by the benefit area are also described in § 95A-3 hereof, by reference to their tax map numbers and by the names of the property owners as of June 1, 2018.
B.
The Board of Trustees of the Village finds that a municipal sewage
disposal system is in the best interest of the community and will
promote the health, safety, and general welfare of its citizens.
C.
The Village is now served by a patchwork of individual private disposal
systems consisting generally of septic tanks and leach fields. The
Village Board finds that many of these systems have either failed,
or upon inspection, do not meet current state or local standards.
These systems must be upgraded, repaired, or replaced, often resulting
in considerable expense to the owners. In addition, although no definitive
scientific data exist, the Village Board has heard reports that failing
private disposal systems in the business district could force closure
of those businesses or a dramatic reduction in the number of patrons
served, which could result in the closure of those businesses. These
closures could result in falling real property values in the community.
D.
Furthermore, the Village Board has been advised that existing local
business are reluctant to expand their operations and outside businesses
are hesitant to locate within the Village because of the lack of a
municipal sewer system. These factors have a deleterious effect upon
local employment and upon the Village's ability to expand its
property tax base.
E.
Therefore, in order to mitigate the costs of repairs to individual
property owners, the potential for the pollution of natural resources,
and to promote and expand business activities and the overall property
tax base, the Village Board finds that a municipal sewage disposal
system is in the best interest of the citizens of the Village of Hammondsport.
F.
The Village Board has been advised that the provisions of Article
14 of the New York State Village Law seems to require that a sewer
system constructed within the Village serve the entire community,
not just a portion thereof.
G.
Nevertheless, the Board hereby chooses to use the authority granted
to it by Section 10(l)(ii)(e)(2) and (3) of the New York State Municipal
Home Rule Law to enact this chapter (i) to provide for a sewer system
which will serve only a portion of the Village, thus overriding the
apparent effect of Article 14 of the Village Law, and (ii) to provide
for assessing the cost of the establishment, construction, operation,
and maintenance of such sewer system primarily against the properties
benefitted thereby. The Village Board believes that Article 14 of
the Village Law does not pre-empt it from doing so and in support
of that belief relies upon a number of opinions from the New York
State Comptroller's Office, namely Informal Opinions Nos. 80-306;
80-533; 80-542; and 85-42.
A.
There is hereby established within the Village of Hammondsport a
sewage disposal benefit area.
A.
The sewage disposal benefit area shall consist of all of the individual
parcels of land within the Village and which are identified by the
name of the owner thereof as of June 1, 2018, and by the tax map number
of the parcel, all of which are as shown on Schedule "A" attached
hereto and made a part hereof.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Schedule "A" is on file in the Village
offices.
B.
Each page of Schedule "A" bears the initials of the Village Clerk/Treasurer
and the date of adoption of this chapter by the Board of Trustees.
C.
In addition, the boundaries of the sewage disposal benefit area and
the individual parcels included therein are more particularly identified
on a map prepared by Fagan Engineers, dated July 2018, project No.2015-004
a copy of which shall be on file with the Village Clerk and which
is hereby incorporated by reference into this chapter.
The cost of the construction, operation, and maintenance of
the sewer system serving the sewage disposal benefit area shall be
financed primarily by charges and rents assessed against the benefitted
properties.
This chapter shall take effect immediately upon its filing with
the Secretary of State.
