Ramapo sewer project cost jumps $12.7M

RAMAPO – The price for a sewer extension project in western Ramapo has gone up by $12.7 million — to about $181 million — as a result of a recent eminent-domain case closure that favors the former property owner.

The state Court of Appeals has denied Rockland County Sewer District 1's appeal request, finalizing the condemnation price of the 64-acre site in Hillburn at $8.1 million. In February 2005, the district took the property under eminent domain to build a wastewater treatment plant for Hillburn and Sloatsburg. With accrued interest of $4.2 million, the sewer district must pay about $12.7 million to the former property owner, Split Rock Partnership.

Ramapo town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence, who is vice chairman of the sewer district's board of commissioners, said the district is also required to pay Split Rock's legal fees. The district should be able to make the payment without borrowing money, he added.

"We have been building up our surplus in the sewer district, knowing that this case was there. We have approximately $25 million on hand," St. Lawrence said.

The board approved the payment Monday.

Since the court's final decision on Feb. 19, the interest has been accumulating by about $1,300 a day. County Attorney Thomas Humbach wrote to board Chairman Julius Graifman on Friday, urging him to hold an emergency meeting to stop the bleeding of ratepayers' money.

"It is my duty to make all necessary recommendations to the district to mitigate its damages," Humbach wrote.

Graifman, meanwhile, has sent a letter of resignation effective May 15, citing medical issues.

St. Lawrence said the board wanted to meet Thursday, but could not because of inclement weather.

Formed in 1963, the sewer district initially served eastern Ramapo and Clarkstown. In 2000, the sewer board and the County Legislature approved the Western Ramapo Sewer Extension Project, aiming to expand its service area to the villages of Sloatsburg and Hillburn by building a new treatment plant and sewer lines. Since then, the project, originally slated to cost about $72 million, has been plagued by ballooning costs.

When the district condemned the 64-acre property for $244,800, Split Rock went to court, arguing that the property was worth nearly $9 million.

In 2012, state Supreme Court Justice John La Cava ordered the district to pay Split Rock $8.1 million. The district's appeal to the Appellate Division was rejected in August 2014, and it turned to the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court. Meanwhile, more than $4 million in interest has accumulated. The condemnation case also cost the district about $2 million in legal fees to its own lawyers.

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