ORDA takes charge of constructing its own wastewater treatment system, as town funds fall short of goal for municipal system
By James M. Odato
The state is adding to its $40 million investment in its North Creek Ski Bowl project near its Gore Mountain alpine center because of the need for a septic system that the host municipality has been unable to build or afford.
As a result, the Olympic Regional Development Authority, which runs Gore and aims to open a new lodge in the hamlet of North Creek this fall, has chosen to build its own system to handle 12,000 gallons a day of wastewater.
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ORDA went forward with the Ski Bowl project, which includes a zip line, a trail, a four-season lodge, a high-speed chairlift for year-round use and other amenities, expecting it would be able to tie into a septic system already in place.
That did not pan out, as a private system planned by FrontStreet Mountain Development, which has built eight townhouses near Gore and aspires to build at least one hotel, became unavailable to ORDA. And the backup plan, for the town of Johnsburg to build its first municipal sewer system, which would discharge into the Hudson River, has been stalled by state permitting delays and now a $2.5 million shortfall in funding.
Project moves ahead
The matter came to a head this month when ORDA President Ashley Walden informed Johnsburg that the state authority would no longer wait for the municipal system.
“ORDA and New York state are already investing millions at the North Creek Ski Bowl, and there must be assurance that we open on time and create the positive economic benefit for the region that this project is intended to,” Walden wrote in a Jan. 3 letter to Johnsburg officials. “We have decided to move forward with plans to construct our own wastewater treatment system.”
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The letter resulted in numerous meetings and discussions among town and state officials, as Johnsburg had been counting on ORDA to help it pay for the project after contractor bids showed a seven-figure shortfall in paying for a municipal system.
The town wanted ORDA to “make a multi-million dollar infrastructure donation,” Walden said. “This was presented as an unverified concept to possibly fill the gap between the town’s available grant funds and the current cost of the planned wastewater treatment project. This would also involve ORDA building the initial phase of the system and then turning over ownership to the town.”
Reaching a compromise
The town has agreed to let ORDA build its own septic system on town land and will hope to tie it into the municipal system eventually built, said Johnsburg Supervisor Kevin Bean.
He said Walden’s letter was frustrating as the town is getting closer to getting its project started, although it still needs more funds. “I want to focus on the fact that we are at a point now that we are moving forward,” he said.
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Town board member Jim Williams, on the sewer committee, said the arrangement will allow ORDA to keep to its schedule for the opening its new lodge in the hamlet in September. Meanwhile, the town can make arrangements to add to the federal funding it is receiving for the sewage project.
It will cost about $10 million and the town budgeted $7.6 million from funding from federal grants and loans. ORDA is relieving the town of some of the burden by building on its own, he said.
Delays in public sewer project
He expects completion in 2026, but noted the project stalled in the application process before the state Department of Environmental Conservation permitted the system. It will be able to handle wastewater from all 75 buildings in the hamlet of North Creek and any additional structures, such as ORDA’s lodge. ORDA will be paying user fees and will be the biggest participant in the sewer district.
“We reached an agreement that is going to allow ORDA to build a stand-alone system (outside) our park behind the lodge,” Williams said. “ORDA can use and build a septic system that meets the requirements of our permitted system.”
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He said creating the septic system will allow the town to “fully” benefit from the millions ORDA has invested.
The need for a sewage system in North Creek has been evident for years. In 2022 and 2023, raw sewage leaked over the wall featuring the hamlet’s downtown mural. The leakage, which came with a stench, ran from an apartment building above Main Street because the building’s aging leach field was unable to sustain the flow, Williams said. The apartment building has been closed as a result, he said.
Waiting to see what happens next
He and Bean said other investors wish to build in the hamlet but are awaiting a municipal system or the fruits of the ORDA Ski Bowl project — an expected increase in visitors.
One developer intends to build an apartment building with a third of the 75 units structured as affordable housing, Williams said.
And David Crikelair, head of FrontStreet Mountain Development, said he hopes to build a 120-room hotel near the Ski Bowl Lodge and would prefer to hook into a municipal system. He said the hotel project is tied to whether the Ski Bowl project is a hit.
“We are waiting for development of ski activity at the Ski Bowl,” he said. “We would be complimenting what the Gore ski area is doing; it’s all part of the big picture.”
He has a permit for up to five hotels in the region.
ORDA’s communications staff had no additional comment other than it is trying to figure out how much the additional construction will cost.
Photo at top: Proposed North Creek Ski Bowl lodge. Courtesy of ORDA
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