by Bea Peterson
It is very frustrating to follow all the laws and have those around you ignore the same laws. It is altogether maddening when their not following those laws leads to damage to your property. That is the case with Ron Alund and some of his neighbors on Lewis Hollow Road in Petersburgh.
Alund had his house built on Lewis Hollow in 1995. “I followed all local, County and State laws, with approved engineering plans,” he said on Friday, July 31. The brook behind his house is a TS (trout spawning) stream that flows into the Little Hoosic River. At that time the lovely brook was two feet deep and six feet wide. “I could see trout in it,” Alund said. The brook was 100 feet from his house. On Friday his back yard was a brown pond. He had water is his cellar and one of his neighbors had four inches of water in her living room. “The flooding is threatening our homes and the septic systems,” he said.
The troubles began in 1999 when downstream neighbors installed an undersized culvert in the stream to build a roadway to homes they constructed on a hillside. According to Alund, the undersized culvert was installed without a permit. “They have a four foot culvert that is collapsing and a driveway that is 300 feet long and four feet over grade. It’s acting as a dam for the one thousand acre watershed from the top of the mountain where the stream begins,” he said.
Conditions along the stream deteriorated even further four or five years ago when Hyland Main, an upstream neighbor, began dredging the stream for gravel without a DEC permit, alleged Alund. In a telephone interview a spokesman for the NYS DEC said that a permit would never have been given for such a project in a trout spawning stream. The dredging released tons of gravel that affected the Smith, McRoberts and Alund residences. The dredging was stopped, but the disturbed gravel keeps flowing downstream. “When I moved here there was just a little steam behind my house. Now it’s 60 feet wide,” said Alund. With the dam at one end, the gravel that is constantly washing downstream settles in Alund’s yard instead of flowing all the way down to the River.
Alund has had the Army Corps of Engineers and DEC people all look at the situation. The best solution would be a bridge over the stream where the roadway and culvert now are. The next best solution is two 8-foot culverts and building the driveway wider and higher. Clearing out the excess gravel would also be part of the solution.
Adding to the problem is that one house is in foreclosure. Alund said Countrywide Realty, that took over the property, put the bridge or culvert proposals out for bid. “A local contractor, Mike Bacon, was way low bidder at $54,000,” said Alund. Unfortunately, according to Alund, the real estate firm decided they were not obligated to do anything at all since it was a pre-existing condition.
“It’s a sad situation,” said Petersburgh Planning Board Chairman David Miller. “When the subdivision was created 25 years ago there was no approval given to block the stream anywhere. The Planning Board has nothing to do with the development of properties once a major subdivision is approved,” said Miller. “It is up to the builder to determine where the roads will be put in and to acquire all the necessary permits to develop the property. The Planning Board does not warranty that a lot is buildable.” The Lewis Hollow subdivision was approved 25 years ago. “In today’s environment such a subdivision would be closely monitored,” he said.
Miller and Petersburgh Town Supervisor Peter Schaaphok toured the flooding situation on Friday. When they checked with the Town Attorney they were told that because the culvert and road are on private property, there is nothing the Town can do. Miller believes the real estate firm will have to resolve the issue. “They will have to provide any new owner with a full disclosure statement, and there is no way they could sell the property the way it is,” he said.
Alund said, “Buffy McRoberts has been a resident of Lewis Hollow her entire life, and she states there were no problems with the stream before the gravel and culvert. Kathy Smith, who had the water in her living room, said she has lived here 20 years and never had water problems before.” All of them are pumping water from their cellars. Once the water is gone there is the necessary cleanup to get rid of mold and mildew. “I have a business to run,” said Alund, “and no time for it as I have to get the moisture and odor out of the house.”
For the last couple of years Alund and his neighbors have been further frustrated in their efforts to get the stream returned to its original state by the lack of response from local, County and State officials. That situation seems to have taken a turn for the better. Besides Schaaphok and Miller, Rensselaer County Legislator Lester Goodermote came out on Friday to look over the flooding. Alund has also been in touch with NYS Assemblyman Tony Jordan. On Thursday, August 6, Alund, Goodermote, Kathy Smith and Carl Greene, of the Little Hoosic Watershed Association, will meet with the Assemblyman in his office to see what help the State can offer to resolve this problem.
On Tuesday, Alund said he had heard from Dan Casey of the Rensselaer County Health Department and, because of the septic system issues, Casey will be waiting to hear what happens at the meeting in Albany.
Last week’s heavy rains inflicted considerable damage throughout Columbia and Rensselaer Counties, in many cases causing devastating personal property damage, never mind what happened to roadways. In many instances this flooding happened for the first and perhaps only time. For the residents of Lewis Hollow they have an ongoing flooding problem. It is hoped that it can be remedied soon.