The village of Williamsville has officially merged its water system with the Erie County Water Authority. Village officials says the ECWA will provide the best, most affordable water service to its residents.
The announcement was made in Glen Park next to Glen Falls in Williamsville Tuesday.
Williamsville Mayor Brian Kulpa says the consolidation effort is expected to decrease the residential commodity rate by 16 percent and save ratepayers money over the long-term.
“Our residents will see an initial savings. The water rate will drop to $4.87, almost a dollar per 1,000 gallons savings, and then, over time as we pay back the work and the investment being made in our system to complete the transaction, our residents will see that rate continue to drop,” said Kulpa.
In order to meet county standards more than $3 million in infrastructure upgrades were invested in the village water system, including remote radio meter readers and higher capacity water mains. Kulpa says the merger will allow the municipality to focus tax dollars on other important initiatives.
“If we spend twelve man hours working on a park, that’s something that’s going to directly affect the residents around that park, their property values, and their way of life. If we spend that same twelve man hours underground trying to figure out where there’s a water main break, yes we’ll fix the water main break, but it’s not recognizable, we’re not seeing that. Your property value doesn’t often go up and down, depending on the quality of pipe in the ground. So, it’s just a fundamental shift,” said Kulpa.
The water system merger will transfer 2,000 residential and commercial customers to the ECWA. Village of Williamsville residents will receive their first county water bill in September.