by Bea Peterson
Hoosick Falls Village Board Trustees Ric DiDonato and Mike Hickey and Rensselaer County Legislator Stan Brownell joined residents whose homes are along Wood Brook for a meeting of the newly formed Wood Brook Coalition on Tuesday evening, March 3.
Hall Street residents have attended several Village Board meetings demanding something be done to stop the Wood Brook flooding. The Board has been unable to respond because the brook runs through private property. The Coalition was formed to fully analyze the Wood Brook problems and to look for State and/or federal funds to resolve these more frequent flooding issues.
In recent years residents have noticed an increased flow of water in the brook. One of the Coalition’s first projects is to track the sources of the increase. They wondered aloud if some of the changes were due to the Easy St. development and improvements made at the Hoosick Falls Country Club. Photographs of past floods were circulated and are being collected, along with letters from residents who have been affected by flooding. Two letters read last night referenced sink holes and the splitting of a yard in half because of the overflowing brook. This material will be put together with letters from the Village and Town asking for assistance. The letters will be sent to legislators from County through National levels.
The Coalition will work to get a grant for an engineering study to define the problems. From there they will work to secure funding to have the problems resolved.
Next Meeting
Anyone owning property that abuts the brook is encouraged to attend these Coalition meetings. The next one will be in the Municipal Building on Tuesday, March 17, at 7 pm.