The following article ran in the September 12, 2000, issue of the Democrat and Chronicle and is reprinted here with permission.

BY STAFF WRITER
MEAGHAN M. McDERMOTT

VICTOR -- The longstanding legal dispute over sewer service to a proposed apartment complex in the Drumlins may be inching toward closure.

A state Supreme Court hearing scheduled for today has been postponed while the Village Board, representatives from Pioneer Corp. and landowner John G. Turner negotiate a possible settlement.

Karl Essler, attorney for Pioneer and Turner, and village attorney William Kocher would not comment on the specifics of negotiations.

If no agreement is reached between the developers and the village, the case will be heard on Oct. 3.

In April, the town Planning Board ruled that Pioneer's application to build a 154-unit apartment complex on 37 acres in the Drumlins was incomplete because developers failed to secure sewer service from the village.

Later that month, Turner and Pioneer filed a complaint in state Supreme Court alleging that the village had violated a 14-year-old agreement to provide sewer service in the area.

Under an agreement approved by the Village Board on July 21, 1986, Turner agreed to clean and improve an oxidation pond in the village's sewer system in exchange for a guarantee of service to 192 residences in the Drumlins.

According to the lawsuit, Turner lived up to his end of the bargain and 20 of the agreed-upon residences were linked.

The suit asked the court to enforce the agreement or award damages in lost land value and earnings.

The village responded by saying that Turner didn't complete the work as specified and that because the work he did perform did not solve the waste water problems, the village was under no obligation to supply additional out-of-village sewer service.

The village, which has spent more than $2 million trying to solve sewage problems, is already operating its sewer system under a state Department of Environmental Conservation consent agreement to occasionally exceed waste limits.

Officials say waste water from the proposed complex would overtax the system. The Drumlins is a hilly 60-acre area that straddles the town and village border. It is named for a type of hill formed by glacial drift.

Currently, there are upscale single-family homes and about 50 townhouses in the Drumlins. The proposal would place several apartment buildings between two streets of single-family homes.

Neighbors have been against the project, saying land was rezoned from single-family to multiple dwellings 14 years ago with the understanding that developers would build townhouses -- not apartments.