by Bea Peterson
The Hoosick Falls Village Board began its meeting on February 10 with a moment of silence in remembrance of Freddie Bouplon, Joseph Cullen and Justice Richard Whalen. Whalen was a Town and Village Justice and the Village Assessor. He was on vacation at the time of his passing and had provided coverage for his positions while he was away, said Mayor David Borge. In an effort to expand replacement possibilities for these positions, the Board approved a motion to hold a Public Hearing before the March 10 meeting. [private]The hearing will give residents an opportunity to discuss a proposed local law that would expand the residency requirements for appointed positions from Village residents only to Rensselaer County residents only. “This will allow us to expand the pool of candidates,” said the Mayor. Another option to consider, he added, is combining the Town and Village assessor positions, if possible. Hopefully appointments will be made at the Village’s organizational meeting in April.
Elected officials would still be Village residents only.
Village Election
The Village election will be held on Wednesday, March 18. The polling place for all Wards is the Village Hall, 24 Main Street. Voting will take place from noon to 9 pm. All candidates are running unopposed. Running for re-election for two year terms are Mayor David Borge, Deputy Mayor Ric DiDonato and Trustees Bob Ryan and Kevin O’Malley. Trustee Karen Sprague is running for one year, to complete the term of Jeremy Driscoll who moved from the Village.
Snow Removal
The recent snow storms and accumulating snow have made it difficult for refuse collection, said Trustee Bob Downing. “Everyone should put their containers out for the regularly scheduled day,” he said. However, it may not be picked up that day.
Residents were reminded that snow emergencies are in affect. The day after a storm cars should be moved to the odd/even sides of the street. During his report Hoosick Falls Police Chief Robert Ashe said his Department is working with residents to see that their cars are moved and not towed away.
Trustee Bob Ryan commended the Highway Department for the terrific job they have been doing, working night and day to clear the streets. He said the Village has had a lot of cooperation from the Town, the County and Hoosick Falls Central School in clearing streets and the help is greatly appreciated. The Village is fortunate to have highway salt. At the meeting it was reported they had 60 ton on hand. There has been more snow since then, however.
The Mayor reminded residents that clearing snow from sidewalks in front of their properties is the responsibility of business owners and residents. Board members stressed the importance of digging out fire hydrants. Should there be a fire, a search for a hydrant and getting it uncovered can make a big difference in the amount of time it takes to combat that fire.
Dan Merrills, Sr. Retires
Mayor Borge said the Village Board accepted, with regret, the retirement of Assistant Highway Superintendent Dan Merrills, Sr. after 12 years and many long hours of service to the Village.
Code Blue
Anyone who requires a warm place to stay on these freezing cold nights should contact the Hoosick Falls Police Department and the police will see they are taken to a safe warm place. Mayor Borge said he learned at a recent Emergency Services meeting that Cambridge has a staffed shelter in addition to what is available in the Village.
Water Situation
Mayor Borge said he had met with representatives of the NYS and the Rensselaer County Health Departments and C.T. Male Associates regarding the perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) found in the water supply. He said they are working on a course of action with all the information available. “Several samples have been taken on land and in the River,” he said. “The PFOA is not going to go away 100%.” More samplings are underway. “What we are looking for are parts per trillion,” said the Mayor. To describe its size he used a size equivalent of taking three seconds out of every one hundred thousand years. Borge said there is a strong protocol for this search and a second lab is being used as well. “When the results come back, we will know where we stand,” he said. They are looking into various solutions. “Schuylerville has a reverse osmosis system that is the most thorough and most expensive,” Borge said. “It costs $40,000 a month to operate.” Another option is a carbon filtering mobile system that takes six to eight weeks to set up and would cost $30 to $40,000 to do. “After the results are in and we know the numbers are accurate, we can look for solutions,” said Borge. So far the samplings have cost between nine and ten thousand dollars. “It needs to be done,” said the Mayor. He added that the County Health Department is providing test results pro bono.
Village Garage
Trustee Ryan said conditions at the Village highway garage are not good. He hopes Board members will go to see it for themselves. Mayor Borge said he will look into the possibility of sharing some space at the Town garage and perhaps a feasibility study could be undertaken to see how best to handle the situation.
The Mayor reported that renovations to the Police Department offices are almost complete and an Open House is planned for May 2.
The first draft of the new Zoning regulations is just about ready. It will possibly be put on the Village website. A Public Hearing on the regulations will be held in March.
The Mayor has been in touch with Oak Mitsui and he has learned that more than half the individuals laid off by the plant closing have found other employment. He said the company expects to have the buildings demolished during the summer and the property cleaned up by early to late fall. The office personnel remaining will be relocated to a John Street office.
Mayor Borge said Hoosick Rising has identified many projects to be undertaken in the future and right now they are working to prioritize those projects.
Woods Brook
The Village is looking into sharing with the Town the $4,500 cost of Barton and Loguidice Engineering writing a grant application for an in depth study of Woods Brook. The Town approved paying half the cost at its February meeting. The grant application is endorsed by Congressman Chris Gibson and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
The Board approved the following motions:
• To advertise for one MEOL highway department person,
• for Mayor Borge to sign an agreement with the MRB Group for professional engineering services required to update the Engineering Report for Sewer Improvements and another to retain the services of the Group to represent the Village in resolving the water issues and
• to authorize the Mayor to enter into an agreement with Hiscock and Barclay LLP for services as bond counsel in the amount of $7,500 in connection with the Sanitary Sewer Project, 2015, proposal for financing approximately $3,500,000 from the NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation and
• to allow the Mayor to sign a new retainer agreement for 2015 to 2017 with Elayne Gold as Village labor relations attorney with the Police and Highway Unions at an increase of $1,250 a month to $1,270 a month.[/private]