Saranac Lake infrastructure is a difficult subject because new work is so costly and the old work is so d***d old and failing. We’ve got real water and sewer and road concerns. A 70,000 square feet emergency services building for $27 million will tax us prohibitively (think debt service) far into the future. This concept of “build it and the grants will come,” ignores fundamental budgeting and planning. If you’re concerned about the future of this village, read on.

The bonding or borrowing capacity of our municipality could be maxed-out by this greatly oversized project because 1. the village has nowhere near that funding in sight, and 2. help is not on the way. Federal grants have been axed and those who once managed such funds are unemployed. The one big grant thus far came from the feds. It is therefore incumbent upon the village board to manage costs downward to fit affordability and not waste time defending grandiose proposed expenditures.

We desperately need new infrastructure, including space for police and fire. So, get 27 students from Petrova and stuff their backpacks with $100 bills — that’s about a million each — and line them up, waiting for the bell. Where do they go?

March them up to old St. Pius. Massively alter that antique structure, build a large, two-story garage, and the kids can return to class. Two things about that: 1. Petrova will still have crappy water, and, 2. Saranac Lake will now have two firehouses.

How’s that, you ask? Throughout a myriad of discussions regarding the proposed new emergency services building, there has been no mention of selling the old firehouse. “Williams is uncertain what will happen with the former EMS facilities if the complex is built at 33 Petrova. He said those decisions will come down the road.” Over many years, keeping that grand old hall has been a constant with the SLVFD. Constant through considerations of a new firehouse on VanBuren Street and on Lake Colby Road. It was determined that staying on Broadway was the most-favored option, and as a result, the village purchased land behind the existing firehouse.

If the SLVFD wants to keep the Broadway station, and, if Saranac Lake cannot afford two firehouses, then the answer is clear: build on Broadway. There’s a lot of value in the Broadway properties but that value has never been budgeted to reduce the $27 million via a sale. It is absolutely inconceivable that selling those properties and getting them on the tax roll has not been put forth as a cost-reducing measure.

Building on Broadway will not require all our cash-toting students. The building can be smaller without the SLPD. Even with the SLPD, the proposed emergency services building is gigantic. Tupper Lake built an impressive, brand new, 15,000 sq. ft. combined emergency services building in 2013-2015 for about $3.7 million. With inflation, that’s $5 million today. Instead of building something more than four times larger than Tupper’s, how about just twice the size at $10 million? Some funding would then remain for our water distribution system.

It’s important to note that “building bigger for the future,” as has been discussed, does not match our demographics. “Between the years 2000 and 2023, i.e. 23 annual cycles, the population of Saranac Lake grew year by year for 1 year and declined for 22 years.”

A little of the salt in our water comes from the addition of sodium carbonate (soda ash) to reduce corrosion, but mostly it’s road salt which gets into our well via river water. A salt study was done but, after years, it hasn’t been made public, so far as I know. There is no naturally occurring salt here. Have you ever noticed the water from your tap appear milky white? It rarely happens, but that’s the zinc orthophosphate which is another additive used for corrosion control — specifically for lead, and also copper. Concern for corrosion has mainly to do with lead. Some old pipes in the ground have lead gasketing, others have lead goosenecks. Corrosive water dissolves lead.

Kudos to our municipal crew for new piping installed and for grueling emergency repairs, like to the Lake Flower main which has broken a few times in recent memory, including last weekend. Money down the drain, unfortunately, since each fix is another patch to ancient pipe.

The two, 20-inch wells drilled for our water source have failed. The one, long-unused well has excessive iron. The single well we rely on is infiltrated by river water. Surely the salt study could shed some light on this. But, regardless of the source for our high salt content, there is still the lead.

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Dan Reilly lives in Saranac Lake.