AUBURN -- Plans to construct Cayuga County's first anaerobic digester are underway, but more than $1 million of the project's funding remains unaccounted for.

Jim Hotaling, executive director of Cayuga County's Soil and Water Conservation District, attended the county's Planning Committee meeting Tuesday night to update committee members on the status of the project.

Hotaling noted that although the county originally donated seven acres of land for the project, more land is needed.

"We need to have additional acres to support the digester, a buffer zone," Hotaling said.

The director noted that additional acreage is part of the plan to contain digester material if something ever happens to the digester.

He noted that about 50 acres of unused county-owned land are located near the digester's site on County House Road in Sennett.

"I don't know what the long-range plan for the county is with the property," Hotaling said.

Along with the need for additional space, Hotaling also noted the project's increased $900,000 cost.

Original projections estimated the digester cost at $3.2 million but has since been increased to $4.1 million.

Hotaling said the district still needs to secure $1.3 million in funding. The remaining expenses have been covered by state and federal funding.

"There is a gap. We will know by August if we can fill the gap," Hotaling said.

If the gap can't be filled by funding and grants from state officials or by low-interest loans from the state's Power Authority, the district may come to the county for assistance, said Dan Schuster, Planning Committee chairman.

Read the full report in Wednesday's edition of The Citizen.