The Town of Thompson, in Sullivan County, has a pattern of growth typical of the southern Catskills: hamlets and villages  with a mix of seasonal and year-round residences and businesses along connecting highway corridors. Over the years, numerous disparate water and sewer districts have been created. As a result, the Town’s water and sewer infrastructure is challenging to manage from  an administrative, capital and O&M perspective. Further, the Town wanted to ensure both that system costs are distributed across the user base in a fair, equitable and fiscally sustainable manner, and that it maximizes the longevity of its infrastructure.

The Town engaged Delaware Engineering to prepare an Infrastructure Master Plan with the following components: a technical analysis of the current conditions and needs of the existing infrastructure; a fiscal analysis of current operating budgets, user rate impact scenarios and modelling to determine equitable user cost distribution; conceptual project development and preliminary cost estimating; and project prioritization. 

The study provided several major recommendations concerning specific district-consolidation opportunities, repairs and upgrades to existing Town treatment plants,  and changes to the current Sewer Rent Code and the assessment of sewer rates within the Town. The study concluded by identifying capital financing opportunities and strategies to fund recommended improvements,  through grant and low-interest loan programs available  in New York State and federally.