The water and sewer main replacement project on Main Street should be completed by Aug. 1, village Mayor Linda Holmes said this week.
Work began in mid-April to replace Cobleskill’s 130-year-old water and sewer mains in anticipation of Main Street being repaved. Residents and business owners have expressed frustration with the congestion caused by work crews and their vehicles and equipment.
“It’s a difficult project but for the most part it’s going well except for the [traffic] nuisance people don’t like to deal with,” said Jim Gillespie of Lamont Engineers, who is overseeing the project with August Bohl Contracting Co.
Holmes said the $1.7 million project is fully funded by water and sewer fund reserves and will not cause additional strain on taxpayers. She said Bohl brought in extra workers to complete the project on time and to battle a rash of water main breaks, including some caused by maps that mislabeled where the mains were buried.
“We had several breaks at the very beginning of the project — four in one week — and we had another one yesterday,” Holmes said on Thursday. “When you’re dealing with that old of pipes, those are the hiccups you get sometimes.”
“It’s nobody’s fault, it’s just aging infrastructure,” added Gillespie. “The utilities are about 95 percent complete, the sewer’s totally complete, and we’re just putting in a few more water services and then the water system is complete.”
Gillespie said that after Aug. 1 there will still be “some sidewalk repair and that kind of thing that we’ll probably be doing until mid-August.”
Street fair planned
Holmes said she’s been working with a small business group called Cobleskill Area Merchants to hold an event to boost local businesses once the work is complete.
“It has been difficult, we have been running special promotions for them,” said Holmes of the affected businesses. “I run the village Facebook page and I’ve been putting things on there reminding people they can come into downtown in different ways.”
The event will be Aug. 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., she said, and will involve sales at local businesses and sidewalk vendors. It will be like a small street fair or market.
“It’s going to be a big promotional push,” she said.
Reach Gazette reporter Dan Fitzsimmons at 852-9605, [email protected] or @DanFitzsimmons on Twitter.
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