Residents in two Saratoga County towns have passed a $10 million sewer proposal designed to improve the water quality of Ballston Lake.
Voters in Ballston and Clifton Park passed the referendum to create a sewer district in those towns. The vote was 52-27 in Clifton Park and 280-135 in Ballston.
More than 700 homes around the lake are not hooked up to a sewer system, with most relying on their own septic tanks. After discovering high phosphorus and coliform levels, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation declared it an "impaired body of water."
Most of the problems were tied to fluids leaking into the water from septic systems. The new sewer system would cost the average property owner $907 per year, but supporters believe the expense is worth it.