by Gary Danforth
The regular monthly Town of Hoosick Board meeting took place this past Monday evening, February 9, in the Hoosick Falls Armory with Supervisor Marilyn Douglas calling the meeting to order at 7 pm. After the Pledge of Allegiance the minutes of last month’s regular monthly meeting were accepted without having them read. Councilpersons Mark Surdam, Mark Cottrell and Kevin O’Malley were present as was Town Clerk Sue Stradinger. Councilperson Bob Ryan and Town Attorney Tom Kenney were absent.
The Town Clerk’s report was accepted with six death certificates and six building permits being of note. The Assessor’s report was in order as was the Court Clerk’s report and the Building Inspector’s report.
Under people to be heard, Pam Benkoski, Ike and Bonnie Powers and Winnie Restino all engaged the Board in a lengthy dialogue about the Wood Brook flooding in recent months along Hall Street behind the old Dodge Fiber building. Four recent floods were recounted, the last two occurring in December of 2008. Benkoski said she had been looking for an answer to this flooding problem for the past nine years with nothing having been done to date. The problem may be debris from upstream clogging the stream or possibly heavy snow and rain runoffs going into the creek. Another problem noted is the creek bed has been filled in with silt and debris, causing the swift running water to spread out, undermine neighboring lands and flood adjacent properties with water and ice.
Restino reported that her husband used to clean out the debris in the creek a couple of times a year, over the years, and among the items fished out of the creek were a baby stroller, a grocery shopping cart, pipes and logs. The Powers felt the State of New York should fix this situation. Others felt run-offs from the Easy Street development or the run-off from higher lands such as around the country club might flood properties downstream.
The Town will co-sign a letter with the Village of Hoosick Falls to try to get a resolution from either Rensselaer County or the State of New York.
Bill Shiland, Superintendent of Highways, had nothing to report.
Douglas said she had received a monthly update from Bennington Paperboard with the plant in official closing mode.
Also, from the Supervisor’s report, Town Historian Phil Leonard, with assistance from Charlie Filkins, submitted a picture board showing pictures of past stores in Hoosick Falls. Leonard noted that in 1926 there were seventeen manufacturing plants, thirty one grocery stores, nine hotels, eleven barber shops, three car dealerships, seven coal dealers, seven hardware stores and six meat markets in and around Hoosick Falls.
Douglas noted that Mike Barratto is now offering golf lessons.
There will be a blood drive at the Armory on Friday, February 13, from 1 to 6 pm.
The skating rink party by the First Baptist Church was cancelled due to warm weather, and the upcoming Kiwanis skating party this weekend may be cancelled for the same reason.
The Board passed a motion to donate $600 to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade fund raiser.
The Board passed a motion to allow the Soil and Water Conservation organization to use the skating rink on May 9 for tree and shrub disbursement. Orders for same are due in by April 19. The Town was recognized by the Town of Hoosick Rescue Squad via a certificate for the Town’s continued support of this organization. The squad is always in need of new volunteers. Douglas noted that Garry Brown, a business owner in Troy who wants to bring a brewery to North Hoosick at the site of the old Flomatic Corporation, was recently written up in Business Review. Also, the Board is thinking over whether to join the Bennington Chamber of Commerce at a fee of $235 plus $1 per employee or maybe to join the Washington County Chamber of Commerce. The Board dropped out of the Rensselaer County Chamber of Commerce due to cost.
There will be a quadricentennial historic preservation meeting in Troy on February 23 on the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s trip up the river of the same name.
Councilperson Surdam said he had heard from some people about how the current hockey program at the skating rink was disorganized. The Board will see that persons wanting to be involved get the opportunity next year.
Councilperson O’Malley reported that the St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be March 14 and the organizational plans are progressing. O’Malley also thanked Bryan Pello, Joanie James and Jane Clark for distributing previous fund raising monies to Town organizations in lieu of rebuilding Doughty’s Hotel at present. The Town received a $500 donation. Councilperson Cottrell is looking into restoring street lights which are out within the township.
In other business, the Board previously passed a motion for a “Cold War” exemption for veterans serving their country during that period. The Board passed a motion for the service award program for points for deserving North Hoosick firemen. This will then be posted for 30 days for the firemen’s review.
Finally, the Board went over, page by page, corrections to the proposed land use/zoning law which will be sent back before the general public for a public hearing before the Board votes on it.
The lengthy, well dialogued meeting adjourned well after 9 pm.