Ted Waddell | Democrat Tim Kelly, standing at left, watches as wife Carol shows a sample of tap water from their house on Cold Spring Rd. to the Town of Liberty board last Monday night. Supervisor John Schmidt is sitting next to Tim Kelly.

Liberty couple disgusted by water

By Ted Waddell
LIBERTY — “We’re getting tired of dirty water… I’m embarrassed to tell you this is what’s coming into my house,” said Carol Kelly as she addressed the Town of Liberty board at this past Monday’s meeting.
To make their point crystal clear Carol and Tim Kelly showed up with three clear plastic bottles filled with discolored and sediment rich water they said came from the taps in their home on Cold Spring Road.
While it’s apparently village water, the water lines are owned and maintained by the town, but in any case, the Kellys pay for water on their annual tax bills.
After unveiling the bottles filled with dirty water and placing them on the table before the board, Carol Kelly continued, We went to the village years ago and told them we were having this problem and now we’re coming to you because we need a solution… in the 21st Century we shouldn’t have to look at this… .we shouldn’t have to drink this.”
Tim Kelly noted, “Our take on this is we don’t care if it’s White Sulphur [Springs] water or Ferndale water, water is water that we’re paying for with our tax bill, and we need a solution.
“Guests come to the house and say ‘Your water smells like pond water’ or ‘Your water smells like chlorine’, and we’re running out of patience,” he added.
Carol Kelly said she recently contacted NYS Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther and the NYS Department of Health who, according to Kelly, said, “they were shocked to see that this water is coming into our house.”
“I don’t know if this is bacterial or has E-coli in it,” she added, holding up a bottle of contaminated water before the board.
“So I’m asking you to please help us find a solution so my family doesn’t have to deal with substandard water.”
Town Supervisor John Schmidt’s initial reaction was, “I don’t have anything to say right now,” but after a bit of prodding by the Kellys for a solution timeline, the board agreed to look into the issue.
There are reportedly 19 homes along the town-owned Cold Spring Road waterline.