DELHI - Following a series of public hearings on Monday, June 17, Delhi trustees adopted a local law to prohibit new water well drilling in the village, and discussed how to proceed with tax foreclosures.
In an attempt to protect the village’s aquifer - underground water supply - trustees proposed and adopted a local law that prohibits the drilling of new water wells within village limits. “It is becoming more common that village aquifers are being threatened because of the amount of drilling that is occurring within village boundaries,” Mayor Jeff Gearhart said. The issue was first brought to his attention by Water Superintendent Jerome “Jay” Decker in 2023, he said.
The local law will reduce the number of intrusions into the aquifer, Gearhart said, and lessen the chance of the aquifer becoming polluted or ruined. The physical act of penetrating the aquifer is what invites pollutants and chemical intrusions, Gearhart explained, not the use of wells.
The village will be in “severe difficulty” if the aquifer is ruined, Gearhart said. “We would have to truck in water, set limitations. Remediation would not be a good situation so we’re looking to protect the water supply.”
In the future, trustees may consider prohibiting any new geothermal wells from being drilled within village limits as well, Gearhart said. Geothermal wells serve as an energy efficient cooling and heating systems.
The village has not received any applications to drill a geothermal well, he said.
Delaware County Planning Director Shelly Johnson-Bennett told Gearhart the county is preliminarily looking into limiting geothermal well drilling. While geothermal wells are a closed system, geothermal wells must penetrate the bedrock surrounding the underground water supply which encourages pollutants, Gearhart said.
In an interview following the meeting, Johnson-Bennett said the county is “just starting to research the issues and review the science behind it all.”
SUNY Delhi Architect Professor and resident Michael Tweed said drilling is not the only way to establish a geothermal heat exchange system. Systems can be water-sourced, or air-sourced, like air-source heat pumps found in residences. “My prediction is that they will make ground-source obsolete anyway,” Tweed said.
While temperature fluctuations may make air-source heat pumps slightly less effective than ground-sourced heat exchange systems during winter, air-sourced heat pumps still exchange heat at temperatures of -13 degrees, Gearhart said. “Even at -15 [degrees], you’re getting some heat benefit from them.”
Also discussed:
• Trustees set guidelines for the process of property tax foreclosures. The village can begin foreclosing on any property with more than three years of unpaid property taxes, trustees agreed. Additionally, no payment plans will be authorized unless it is established by the property owner’s attorney and there is a legal binding to make monthly payments on a payment plan not to exceed two years. The unpaid taxes will continue to accrue interest and penalties during the payment plan, trustees agreed.
