by Bea Paterson
Flooding, fire, fish kill, power surge, environmental issues, job losses, two years of highway construction, diminishing tax base, rising prices and increased taxes, these are just a few of the issues Hoosick Falls Mayor Laura Reynolds has faced in her eight years as Village Mayor. She has decided eight is enough. Like many politicians Reynolds wants to step down and spend more time with her family. She has been
Mayor for half of her daughter Amelia’s life. Her son Marcus is in college now. She looks forward to offering support to incoming Mayor Matt Monahan. “Change is good,” she said. “New blood is good. It’s nice to see a young person involved. People like to complain, but many of them don’t want to get involved. I know people are very busy and Village Trustee or Mayor adds a lot of stress to life.” To this day Reynolds said she has knots in her stomach before each Board meeting. She never knows who is going to come to the meeting to criticize or complain or tell the Board they don’t care. “It’s nerve wracking,” she said. As a part time Mayor, she said, there is just not enough time to do everything. “You have to work on the priorities. No one does it for the money! The job is difficult, time consuming and stressful.” Some of the joys of the job have been the people she has met and worked with. “The people I’ve met have been awesome – Joe Bruno, Roy McDonald, the people in Senator Gillibrand’s office. Kathy Jimino has become a friend and supporter. The relationships developed with engineers and grant writers, attorney John Patterson and many others through hours of hard work have been wonderful. I appreciate it very much.”
“Being Mayor is an experience I will never forget.”
“It has been a pleasure to work with such an intelligent Board of Trustees over the years. I don’t think Village residents know how important they are and how much they do for so little pay,” said Reynolds. She also had nothing but praise for the police department, the office staff and the highway crew. “I want everyone to know how proud I am to work with the Village employees. They are dedicated and hard working. They are unappreciated. They should be recognized for all they do. It’s an honor to work with them.”
And work with them she has. The first Thursday she was in office the Department of Environmental Conservation placed a consent order against the Village for the Waste Water Treatment Plant which had several issues including no certified plant operator. The second Thursday a valve was mistakenly opened at Oak Mitsui that resulted in a fish kill in the Hoosic River. The third Thursday there was a major water line break at the water plant. She and Village Trustees stood alongside the Highway crew when they worked all night on a water main break on Classic St. near Main. There have been several water line breaks that had to be repaired at all hours of the day and night. Flooding at the Water Plant shut down the Village water supply at one point. Through Senator Bruno Pepsi donated a trailer truck of water to the Village. CLS Transportation supplied the trailer to haul and store the water said Reynolds. “Board members and volunteers manned the truck for days distributing that water.” Then there was the tree limb that fell on the electric lines causing a power surge that destroyed computers in the Town and Village offices and destroyed computers, televisions and appliances throughout the Village and leaving many homes in the dark.
In addition to these problems, there was the closing of the Oak Mitsui and Isola plants. More than 200 people lost their jobs. Many of them found jobs out of town and for less pay. Downtown noontime traffic disappeared. The Village lost $94,000 annually in water and sewer charges. “The loss of factories in the Village and the revenue they brought in can’t be made up,” said Reynolds. “We’ve done the best we can, but costs keep increasing and for a long time taxes didn’t go up at all. We tried to cut costs by consolidating the Village and Town Courts, but it was voted down. In today’s world consolidation has to happen,” she said. She would like to see Rensselaer County, for example, return to a Board of Supervisors. “The Supervisors are more aware of what is happening in their towns,” she said. She believes a County Executive and the Supervisors would be far less expensive than the current system of legislators.”
Accomplishments
Mayor Reynolds believes her biggest accomplishment for the Village has been improvements to the infrastructure. The Route 22 project finally came to fruition. New water lines and sidewalks were run the length of the Village as part of the project, financed by the State. There were also improvements to the Municipal parking lot. The Village was torn up for almost two years and Trustees McAuliffe and Becker kept on top of it throughout. Next was the new three million dollar Waste Water Treatment Plant, which received the Prestigious Project of the Year Award from the Capital Branch of the American Public Works Association. Now the new four million dollar Water Facility is close to completion. Both plants were financed with zero interest loans from the Environmental Facilities Corp. The Village received a $500,000 grant toward the Water Plant. “From Stephentown to Salem we are the only village that provides water and sewer to residents,” said Reynolds. The Water Plant is scheduled to be up and running in March. Final completion will be in April. After the plant is completed there will be work on water mains, replacement of the Rensselaer pumping station and then the loops in the lines that will improve water pressure and quality in various parts of the Village. “This is a state of the art facility,” said Reynolds. “It is costly but in the long run it is good for the whole Village.”
Grants
In eight years the Village has received more than two million dollars in grants. Some businesses have taken advantage of the Main St. Grant. Reynolds believes the economy is a big part of the reason why more businesses haven’t utilized the funds because it is a matching grant and the fees to the company overseeing the grant seem high to some.
At one point the Mayor and Trustees went house to house to survey residents’ income so that eligibility for Community Development Grants could be expanded to cover the entire Village instead of just the Second Ward as in the past. “We did that twice,” said Reynolds. “The second time we were also campaigning for re-election.” As a result of their efforts Hoosick Falls received $400,000 in grants for home improvements Village-wide three times. “This is why it is so important for everyone to participate in the census. That information can make such a difference for a community,” she said. The federal census will be happening again in 2010.
Income status was influential in securing the zero percent interest loans for the Waste Water and Water Plants.
After the Dougherty fire at the corner of Main and John Streets the Village received a $750,000 Restore NY grant. It is hoped that the details of that grant will be resolved soon so that the lot can be purchased and restored.
Recently the Village received 26 acres of land along the Hoosic River from the Hoosic River Watershed Association for a trail. The Village has a $200,000 grant for improvements to that trail and for the purchase of more land along the River.
The Village has also received grants that allowed them to purchase two police cars.
Grants have also covered the cost of Village development designs that have included an art center. So far they are simply designs.
Improved Laws
The Board has worked to improve several laws during the last eight years. The earliest was a change in regulations regarding manufactured homes in the Village. The Social Host Law dealing with underage drinking was passed. Last year a Planned Unit Development law was passed that allows developers an opportunity to appear before the Planning Board with ideas for properties that will benefit the Village but require zoning changes. The latest law is the Point System that deals with nuisance properties.
The Board worked diligently to verify the number of apartments in the Village so they could be properly billed for water, sewer and trash removal. A full time Building Inspector was appointed.
Hoosick Falls was allotted one of six contiguous Empire Zone areas in Rensselaer County.
Reynolds worked to streamline the Village accounting system and update office procedures. Board meetings are regularly televised and shown on the Village cable channel. Health insurance benefits for Board members were eliminated and have saved the Village over $250,000 in eight years.
Escalating Costs
In recent years St. Gobain and the Railroad have received tax reductions, further eroding the Village tax base. Medical and pension costs have increased. Energy costs have increased. Through it all, Reynolds and the Board have worked to keep costs down.
175th Anniversary
Celebration
Reynold’s tenure has had its share of light moments too. A highlight was the four day 175th Anniversary celebration of the Village that had a variety of events stretching from Wood Park to the Town Park. The Mayor and every Board member pitched in to see the event was a success. It was a time to remember. There have been Ward meetings and Village cleanup days and parades and fireworks. They are all signs of a healthy Village working to improve in tough times.
Reynolds is Chief Financial Officer for the Hoosick Falls Health Center. She serves on the Rensselaer County Zoning Board. She is records keeper for the CEO Center on River Road and HAPPY. She also serves on the Rural Rensselaer County Council for Health and Human Services, particularly on the Karen McGovern project. She hopes to resume participation in a volleyball league this year.