SYRACUSE -- Update:
Homeowners in Onondaga County could soon have to pay a higher sewer fee.
Onondaga County lawmakers met Friday morning to discuss a $104 million plan that would prevent contaminated wastewater from spewing into Onondaga Lake. The idea is to build two wastewater storage facilities along Harbor Brook which runs into Onondaga Lake. The plan also calls for a number of green measures to keep runoff from entering the storm sewer system in the first place, including porous parking lots, roof plantings, and residential rain barrels.
The current sewer fee is $235. The project would add an additional $2.30 to that. A total of $72 million needs to be raised through sewer use fees to pay for the project.
Lawmakers were warned that the Harbor Brook plan is just one part of the overall cleanup of Onondaga Lake and other projects will also add to sewer taxes county-wide.
Jim Kenyon has more on this story coming up on NBC 3 and CBS 5 starting at 5 o'clock.
Earlier:
Onondaga County lawmakers will get a chance to hear details on a $104 million plan to keep sewage-contaminated wastewater out of Onondaga Lake. Deputy County Executive Matt Millea will unveil the plan to the county legislators Friday.
The plan calls for the building of a wastewater treatment plant along Harbor Brook which runs into Onondaga Lake. The original plan called for the building of two wastewater treatment plants, but the county scrapped those plans after complaints from neighbors.
The county says the new plan is less expensive and more environmentally friendly since it calls for the building of underground storage facilities and the use of green roofs and streets to help keep waste water from ending up in the lake.
The county says $12 million in federal stimulus money would be used to build the plant. The rest would come by raising homeowners sewer fees.
