St. Armand to buy Paul Smith’s College land that holds town’s water supply 

Long history of divided ownership over Bloomingdale water supply could wrap for $300,000

By Zachary Matson

After more than a century of drawing water from wells and springs near Sumner Brook, Bloomingdale water users will soon own the 41-acre parcel that holds their long-established water supply.

The property is owned by Paul Smith’s College, a remnant of the legacy of the school’s namesake and storied Adirondack businessman.

College and town leaders have agreed to a $300,000 sale price, funded by a state water quality grant that offers a funding source for the town to take ownership of its water source, as well as an infusion of money to the college.

The college has owned the land since the early 1980s. Paul Smith Sr., for whom the college was founded, first purchased the Bloomingdale parcel through his business in 1910 – a few weeks after a local board resolved to raise money to acquire its water supply.

St. Armand Supervisor Davina Thurston said she has negotiated a potential sale with three Paul Smith’s College presidents since 2019, culminating in the agreement in recent weeks. The Department of Environmental Conservation in December awarded the town a $300,000 grant for purchasing the land. A state-funded study of how to protect the water supply completed last year recommended bringing the property under town control as a key step.

A long time coming

“It’s super simple,” Thurston said. “It’s critical for the town to own the recharge area surrounding our wells. This should have been taken care of in 1910.”

Kelting on Friday confirmed the college agreed to the sale price and cheered the deal as beneficial to both the college and community. Owning around 14,000 acres, the college uses most of its land as an extension of the classroom for forestry, science and other subjects. Most of the land is contiguous to the campus, including the Paul Smith’s Visitor Interpretive Center (VIC). The school also owns a few smaller parcels around the region, including what college officials call the Spring Lot in Bloomingdale.

“Our forest is our laboratory and it’s a critical part of our mission for educating our students, Kelting said. “The [Bloomingdale] lot, however, is not.”

The college has never used the parcel and has maintained a long-term lease with the town to use it as the local water supply. That lease agreement, worth $1, expires by 2032.

Thurston underscored the town’s long use of the property for its water supply, citing evidence that locals had relied on springs on the property since as early as the 1880s. Various agreements enabled continuous use of the site for Bloomingdale’s water ever since. 

Kelting said the property’s best use was as a “source of fresh clean drinking water to Bloomingdale.” The college plans to invest proceeds from the sale in programs aimed at retaining students and improving graduation rates, he said.

“Our land is core to our mission,” Kelting said. “But land that we own randomly, aren’t utilizing for our mission and has better uses, we would look to sell.” 

Additional plans for the land

Thurston envisions eventually building a river walk along Sumner Brook, which bounds the property’s western edge, connecting Main Street to Oregon Plains Road. She suggested the trail could memorialize military veterans who attended Paul Smith’s College.  

“It will take some doing but it will be a super nice loop,” Thurston said. 

The wellfield contains eight wells, three of which are in active use. The active wells are up to 400 feet deep and send around 80 gallons per minute through a water main running under Sumner Brook to the town’s water treatment facility. 

Signs of salt pollution

While considered relatively clean, it also shows strong indications of road salt pollution. The water supply’s annual water quality report notes sodium concentrations in the well water of 34 mg/l and chloride levels of 120 mg/l, among the highest of public water supplies in the park and a sign salt pollution has infiltrated the groundwater. Thurston said the town planned to pursue funding to replace its salt storage shed with one better designed to mitigate runoff problems. State salting practices on Route 3 may also be impacting water quality, said Kelting, who has studied salt pollution throughout the Adirondacks. 

After it is treated, the water is pumped uphill to a 40-foot-tall water tower that holds 280,000 gallons. It then flows back downhill to the system’s around 1,000 users. 

“It’s all downhill from here,” said Jonathan Nielsen, St. Armand’s water superintendent, during a recent visit to the water tower.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the spelling and title of Jonathan Nielsen.