HORTONVILLE — The Town of Delaware has been in the process of upgrading some of the town's crucial infrastructure that has aged out.

At their regular town board meeting last week, the board moved to go forward with purchasing 2.6 acres of land from the Delaware Youth Center to construct new wells for the Callicoon Water District.

Delaware Supervisor Steve Lundgren told the Democrat that the New York State Department of Health is requiring the new wells.

The current well is located near the flood channel that was created to bypass the Callicoon Creek, so in the event of a flood it creates turbidity in the water.

The town is also negotiating with the Trust for Public Land (TPL), which recently acquired land at the old Delaware Campgrounds site to build a public park, to purchase an additional 2.5 acres for the site of the new wells.

In addition to the water district, the town is also replacing the wastewater treatment plant, which is currently located in the flood plain.

The town and the TPL are finalizing subdivision plans to relocate and build a new wastewater treatment plant on higher grounds of the proposed park.

Delaware Engineering, which the town contracted with on this project, submitted a report to the Department of Environmental Conservation and Environmental Facilities Corporation, which has been approved.

Lundgren said the next step is to search for and obtain financing to hire an engineering firm to design a new plant based on Delaware Engineering's report.

Once the design is complete, the project can go out to bid. The original timeline predicted that construction could begin in 2023 and be completed by 2025, but because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, they are unsure when funding will be secured, Lundgren explained.

And the third project moving forward in the town is the new Highway Department garage. The original design has been scaled down from 14,000 square feet to approximately 9,300 square feet.

“We regard that as a significant cost savings,” Lundgren said.