Tuxedo Reserve: What It Means For Rockland County is an Executive’s Corner op-ed published in April from Rockland County Executive Ed Day’s office. The Day administration met with Town of Tuxedo and Related Companies decision-makers on the topic of connecting Tuxedo Farms/Reserve into the Rockland County Sewer District 1’s Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in Hillburn, NY. The issue relates to interagency partnerships at the county level, one presumes. Day frames the topic from the perspective of the the County Executive’s office.

A question at the heart of the issue is shared municipal revenue, i.e., where exactly monies go that are paid by an out-of-county municipality or private enterprise to hook into the Western Ramapo sewers — to Rockland County or the Towns and Villages that paid for the sewer and treatment facilities via tax dollars. The Rockland County Sewer District 1 is a semi-autonomous county agency with its own oversight Sewer Commission composed of representatives from villages and towns that the sewer district serves. 

Tuxedo Reserve: What It Means For Rockland County

Rockland County Executive Ed Day (April 4, 2014)

Map of proposed location for Tuxedo Farms/Reserve in the red outline just northwest of Sloatsburg.

There’s been a lot of talk recently about Tuxedo Reserve and exactly what the residential housing development in Orange County means for the people of Rockland County.

Developers have told me their plan is to build nearly 1,200 single-family homes, condominiums and townhouses on 1,200 acres of land in the Town of Tuxedo, just across the Sloatsburg border.

Representatives of the builder, Related Companies, have also communicated their strong desire to connect to the Rockland County’s new wastewater treatment plant in Hillburn.

    Rockland County Executive Ed Day.

Any future decision to allow the developers to hook into our wastewater facility rests solely with our Legislature via initiation of a local law. As County Executive, I have no authority to approve the connection.  Going forward, I would urge members of the Planning and Public Works Committee and full Legislature to carefully review all available information for the facts.

And, according to the planners of Tuxedo Reserve, here are a few of the facts offered.

• Rockland County Sewer District No. 1’s new Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in Hillburn has more than enough capacity to handle the demands of the housing development, plus the projected demands of our residents for decades to come.  (Our own sewer district personnel describe the facility as “underutilized”)
• Any potential impact to the local environment (both in Rockland and Orange counties) would be minimized by connecting to our facility – no additional construction would be necessary.  It has been represented to us that the most environmentally friendly course of action is to allow the connection.
• Related Companies has offered to pay the County $2 million, plus millions more to our Sewer District
• Unlike a few years back when the development was just a proposal, this construction is approved and scheduled to break ground.

This office is not advocating for or against the wastewater connection.  What we DO support is the potential for millions of dollars coming onto the County, with no potential harm to the landscape of western Ramapo and no stress to our treatment facility.  Moreover, the one-time payment of $2 million will go toward deficit reduction, as we continue to grapple with a $145 million budget hole.

I have heard and fully understand local opposition to the project in one of the most picturesque valleys of our region. As your County Executive, I would never consent to any agreement to the detriment of our people or our environment.

Governing is often a delicate balancing act.  In the case of Tuxedo Reserve, it is my responsibility to make certain our residents  – and, our environment – get the best from the developers.