Melanie Lekocevic is reporting in The Daily Mail mandated water plant repairs may cost the village of Athens $1 million. The Athens Village Board last week passed a resolution to raise the funds needed for improvements to the village water plant and its lagoons. The action was taken following the issuance of a consent order by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, July 15. Mayor Chris Pfister said the lagoons have not been cleaned out in years, allowing residue from the water filtration plant to build up. He said the substance is very thick, like mud, and interfering with the system's ability to function. “This is worse than we anticipated,” Pfister said. The DEC has given the village until Dec. 1 to remove the sludge from the two existing lagoons, and until Mar. 1, 2016, to submit engineering plans for construction of a third lagoon. Although the resolution approved by the board authorized the issuance of up to $1 million in bonds, it is still unclear exactly how much the project will cost. Based on initial estimates however, the repairs will translate into a projected increase of $51 per year on residents' water bills. The board's bond resolution is subject to permissive referendum. Residents who oppose the proposal have 30 days from Mon., Aug. 3, to collect sufficient signatures and force a village-wide vote on the plan. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.