Richmondville Pursuing $3M Grant for Paved Trail

Above photo: Engineer Brendon Becker presents information on a proposed paved trail that would run along a new sewer line in the Town of Richmondville. Photo by Chris English.

RICHMONDVILLE — The Town of Richmondville will go after a second grant that, if received, would fund a paved pedestrian trail and related improvements along a new sewer line.

At the Thursday, Feb. 12 town board meeting, Engineer Brendon Becker made a presentation on the town's plan to apply for $3 million from a state Department of Transportation grant program to fund a 10-foot wide paved trail along the length of the new sewer line that's part of the town's upcoming $12-13 million sewer improvement project. The project will provide public sewer service to much of the town, including Warnerville.

Richmondville had already applied for a $4.5 million New York Forward grant that would also pay for improvements to be done in conjunction with the sewer improvement project.

The NYS DOT grant normally requires a 20 percent match from the grant recipient, Becker pointed out. However, since the sewer line and pedestrian trail would run mostly along a state highway (Route 7), the match should only be 5 percent, he added. Town Supervisor Jeffrey Haslun added that the DOT grant would be a reimbursable one and would likely require the town to take out a Bond Anticipation Note to handle expenses up front before reimbursements from the grant are made.

Town officials were happy to hear about the proposed 10-foot width of the trail because that's wide enough for a town truck or other vehicle to be able to remove snow. Board members were also excited about the trail's potential to increase safety for people walking along Route 7. Becker added in response to a question from Councilman Todd Sperbeck that the plan includes solar-powered lighting along the trail.

As currently planned, the trail would extend from the Village line of Richmondville to the Village Line of Cobleskill, However, Haslun said there would still be a real benefit if the trail stretched only as far as Cobleskill-Richmondville High School.

"If we get to the school, it would be a heck of a service to the community," he said.

Becker added that if construction of the trail is timed out closely with laying of the new sewer line, the contractor putting in the new sewer line should be able to give the town a good price on paving the trail. All these plans, of course, depend on the town actually receiving one or both of the grants.

A State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) resolution for the proposed trail states that the "Town of Richmondville intends to pursue the funding, design and possible construction of a multi-modal trail along the NYS Route 7 corridor from the Village of Cobleskill to the Village of Richmondville in the Town of Richmondville, to serve as a method of promoting non-vehicular transportation access from the Hamlet of Warnerville, a gateway community to the surrounding areas, to be known as the Warnerville Access Improvements Project."

The resolution continues: "The project will include the construction of a multi-modal path along the proposed sewer project alignment and will include a paved walking/bicycle path, pedestrian crossings, ramps and signage." It adds that the "Town of Richmondville designates itself as the lead agency for the project (and).....hereby determines that the project is a Type II action pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act."

In related news at the Feb. 12 meeting, Haslun reported he recently on behalf of the town paid the Village of Richmondville $700,000 of the $1 million buy-in fee for the town sending sewage resulting from the improvement project to a treatment plant in the village. Becker added most of the easements have been secured for the improvement project, though not a lot were needed as the new sewer line will run mostly through the state right-of-way for Route 7.

He said permission will have to be secured from the C-R School District to locate a new sewage pumping station on high school property but that should not be a big problem.

"They are eager to hook in, it will be a benefit for them," Haslun said. He added that the town recently secured another $1 million in federal funding for the sewer improvement project.

In other news from the meeting, Town Justice John A. Leggieri gave a report on 2025 accomplishments and 2026 goals for Town Court. He said the court was able to collect $28,068 in unpaid traffic tickets last year.

"We closed up a lot of older cases and cleared up a lot of unpaid tickets," Leggieri noted. "This is a real busy court." For 2026, he added that the court is looking to hold two DA days a month instead of just one.

Leggieri said a big priority for this year will be sorting out records to see what can be destroyed and what needs to be reboxed and put in storage in an area of the recently-completed addition to Town Hall.

"We're very impressed with what you've gotten done," Councilman George Horning told Leggieri.

Haslun said updates on the proposed Constitution Pipeline will be put on agendas from now on for the regular monthly meetings. The Constitution Pipeline Company has refiled with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build and operate a 125-mile natural gas pipeline, If a permit is eventually granted, the pipeline would start in Northeastern Pennsylvania and run through several areas of New York State, including Richmondville and several other towns in Schoharie County.

Jeffrey Haslun said Councilmen Sperbeck and Eric Haslun have been trying to get more specific mapping to determine more precisely where the pipeline would run.

"Very tight lipped," is how Sperbeck described the response he has gotten so far.