by Bea Peterson
Jon Bombard, owner of the Man of Kent on Route 7 in Hoosick, closed the popular little pub Sunday evening about 8 pm. “We closed for the safety of the building and the safety of the people in the building,” he said. He and some of the staff watched the small stream far below the restaurant turn into a raging river. “It went from being eight feet wide and only inches deep to 80 feet wide and eight to ten feet deep,” said Bombard. Besides the torrential rain, he heard there was a beaver dam upstream that broke. “Our trees are gone,” he said of his side of the embankment. He watched a 50 foot high willow fall into the raging water. “It was swept away like it was nothing.”
Former pub owner John Stoate said this is the biggest storm he has ever seen, “The water might have been this high in 1947 when the old pool filled,” he said.
Bombard has received an emergency permit to replace much of the soil that was swept away. “It’s not for aesthetics,” he said, “it’s for the safety of my customers and my employees. The restaurant was closed for four days while an engineer inspected the building and while the ground was stabilized. He estimates he has lost about an acre and a half of land. He has talked with Congressman Chris Gibson about restoring that land and putting the little brook back in its proper channel and, he said, the Congressman has been very supportive.
Though Bombard has concerns for his business, he acknowledged there are many people and businesses far worse off than he is.
