The long-awaited 104A road repair and new sewer line projects in the Fair Haven area, both of which have been in planning for the last few years, will be moving to the construction phase this fall and spring.

At the end of July, the state Department of Transportation, along with the village of Fair Haven, will host a public meeting to field questions from residents now that the two projects are primed to get underway.

The first phase of the sewer project, which will eventually result in Cayuga County Sewer District No. 2, will go out to bid next week and construction is expected to begin in late September, said Fair Haven Mayor Bill McVea.

The village has long been dealing with failing septic tanks and was directed by a state Department of Environmental Conservation decree to undertake the public sewer project. The DEC, McVea said, wants to protect Little Sodus Bay - and the new sewer district will also “improve the health and welfare of the

village,” he said.

The $16 million sewer district project will be extended over several years and phases, the first of which will involve only the portion of 104A being repaired by the DOT. The DOT will have to wait to begin its road construction along 104A until after the new sewer line is installed, thus that portion of the sewer line is scheduled to be installed by the end of this construction season in December.

The $3.25 million road construction project will extend through the village of Fair Haven from Eldredge Avenue to Ontario Avenue. It is being funded through state and federal dollars.

Roy Cary, highway design team leader for the project, said the construction will begin in Spring 2007, after the sewer line along that portion of the state highway has been installed. The construction is largely being done to address drainage problems, which have led to flooding at properties along Main Street in the village.

However, it will also involve the installation of new curbing and sidewalks, some which are currently in poor condition or non-existent. Cary said the whole project should take about a year and a half.

Route 104A will be open at all times to two-way traffic, he said. The state will have flaggers on site to direct traffic around construction.

While the new sewer line under the portion of Main Street being worked on by the DOT should be installed by December, phase 1a of the project, which will connect the line to the wastewater treatment plant in Wolcott, won't actually be completed until August 2007. It will cost $1.3 million and McVea said grant funding is already lined up to cover costs.

Of the total capital costs, 25 percent will be paid for by people in the district. Thus, when phase 1a is complete at the end of next summer, it will amount to about $224 annually on the tax bill for people within that area. McVea said the village and town of Sterling, which will also be part of the district, are hoping that the remaining 75 percent will be funded through state and federal grants.

About 80 people will be able to connect when phase 1a is complete.

Phase 1b will extend lines out along some of the side roads, including Fancher Avenue and Lake Street, and will cost about $2.1 million. That portion of the project should be completed by December 2007.

The entire sewer district should be completed by 2010, depending on grant funding, McVea said.

Since both the road and sewer projects have been in the works for so long, McVea said questions and rumors have been arising about when the projects will be completed, if ever. The village and the DOT would like to clear those rumors up at this month's public meeting, he said.

“We're going ahead full-force with these things,” McVea said.

Staff writer Anne Gleason can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or at anne.gleason@lee.net.