After dealing with water issues for a number of years, people in Morrisonville, New York will be seeing upgrades to the system soon.

Residents of Hamlet of Morrisonville know all too well about problems with getting water.

Fifteen years ago sections of Ladue Street flooded, causing people to move from their homes. That caused water flow on River Street to decrease, and the water line is prone to freezing during the winter.

“Our operations and maintenance of the system is through the town of Plattsburgh water and sewer, and they recommended that we run a small blow off on the bottom of River Street during the coldest months of the year,” said town supervisor Kevin Randall.

Schuyler Falls Town Supervisor Randall said the blowoff is a bandaid on a major issue. Randall came into office in 2020 hoping to fix things permanently.

“When we first looked at the project and we looked at what we could do to fix River Street and take care of that issue, that’s when I found out that the whole system is as old as it is, and other than maintaining it if there was a break and fixing a break, it’s never really been updated or upgraded,” said Randall.

Randall said the water lines were originally installed between 1953 and 1956. “It was supposed to last between 50 and 75 years, this year we’re coming up on 2023, so the early parts of this system have now outlived its life expectancy,” said Randall.

Randall has spent his three years in office trying to get the necessary funding and grants to completely replace Morrisonville’s water infrastructure which is an 8.1 million dollar project.

Through state and federal grants, along with a low interest bond, the project looks to finally begin later this year.

“I’d like to go hey you know let’s get a shovel in the ground and get it going. We’re hoping to get a shovel in the ground maybe by August or September of this year,” said Randall.

The project will be done in two phases over the course of two years, starting with the River Street project by replacing the old lines and making the blow-off obsolete. This will require increasing water flow to River Street and making the line less likely to freeze.