The Saratogian reported Town of Ballston residents heard a presentation Tuesday night on the costs water district customers will incur to build the pump station necessary to hook up to the county water system and many seemed to like what they heard.

The town signed a contract to purchase at least 375,000 gallons per day from the county system beginning July 1; that contract is in addition to an existing contract between Ballston and Glenville requiring Ballston to purchase 100,000 gallons per day from Glenville through 2022.

The $67 million Saratoga County water system includes an intake and treatment plant on the Upper Hudson River in Moreau and a 28-mile pipeline south as far as the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta Throughout last year, and particularly during the 2009 election cycle, town residents and officials were bitterly divided about their water situation. Tuesday night, however, most seemed accepting of the dual water systems.

Having two redundant water systems - one each at the town's north and south ends - and the better water quality promised by Saratoga County makes the project "a no-brainer for me," one resident said after the presentation.

The presentation, by Edwin Vopelak, Jr. of the engineering firm C.T. Male, was initially scheduled to be a public hearing. But because some documentation was not ready by Tuesday night it turned into an information session with a question and answer period. The town council scheduled a public hearing to take comments on the pump station construction project on Feb. 23.

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