Schenectady County moves toward legal action over prolonged boil-water order

Schenectady County is moving from informal pressure to formal enforcement over a boil-water order that has remained in place for nearly 10 months at Hillcrest Villas Mobile Home Park in Duanesburg.

County attorney Frank Salamone said the county plans to pursue an administrative hearing over the prolonged order, with possible court action if the park owner does not comply.

The county first issued the boil-water order on Aug. 17, 2025, after residents in the front section of the park lost water service. Officials say recurring outages and shortages have kept the order in place since then.

County officials now say the order affects 30 households, down from an earlier figure of 75.

How the dispute escalated

On May 14, 2026, Schenectady County Public Health Services gave park owner Sam Obermeister 30 days to fix water-system deficiencies and submit a letter from a state-licensed professional engineer describing evaluation and corrective options.

Salamone said the county first tried an informal process before turning to a formal one. He said Obermeister did not meet the May 14 deadline.

The county says the system problems include unsecured and unmonitored storage tank delivery ports, inadequate drainage around well casings, and missing sanitary seals on tanks.

Officials say potable water has continued to be delivered through an approved water operator while the advisory remains in place.

Residents and oversight

A June 11 Times Union report said the boil-water advisory had been in place for more than 290 days and that residents had received little public explanation for when it would end.

That report also said the Schenectady County Human Rights Commission had begun looking into complaints from residents, although a planned meeting was postponed.

The county says Obermeister and Mobile Properties, LLC also face a separate deadline from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on septic-system issues.

There is one unresolved conflict in the county's account: officials have said they were working with the DEC on the water issue, but the agency told the Times Union it has no involvement in the matter.

What happens next

The county is expected to schedule an administrative hearing next. Officials said that process could lead to a formal order and specific compliance conditions for the park owner.

If Obermeister does not comply after that, county officials say they could seek court action.

For now, the boil-water order remains in effect, and residents are still relying on delivered potable water while the county pushes the case toward enforcement.