Water Contamination Issue Draws Residents To Meeting, Mayor And Trustees Get On With Regular Village Business
by Deb Alter
The Municipal Building meeting room was packed to overflowing for the monthly Village Board meeting on Tuesday, January 12. Again, it was the Village water issue that drew people to the meeting. Mayor David Borge officially announced that a temporary Granulated Activated Carbon (GAC) will be installed at the HF water plant very soon. There is about a two-week delivery time, and it takes about three weeks to install. There will be at least a week of sampling and testing. The system, which will filter out PFOAs to undetectable levels, should be online in February. [private]In the meantime, bottled water (five gallons per day per person, anyone who needs more than that should contact the Village Clerk) will continue to be available at Tops. People who need help getting the bottled water should contact the Hoosick Falls Water Angels by calling the Village Clerk’s office at 518-686-7072 between the hours of 8:30 am and 3:30 pm Monday through Friday, or may contact the group through their Facebook page, or call the coordinator, Michelle O’Leary, at 518-697-9698 between the hours of 9 am and 6 pm.
The temporary GAC filter pumps less water per day than the regular water system, so there is a small possibility that the Village might have to impose some water restrictions, but residents will not see a reduction in water pressure. Work continues on the long-term filtration system. This will all be paid for by Saint-Gobain.
Deputy Mayor Ric DiDonato has created a Hoosick Falls Water website that can be linked to through the Village website. It’s a kind of one-stop shopping for water information where one can find FAQs, timelines, documents from Hoosick Healthy Water, NYSDOH, the EPA, and more.
There were still many questions from the audience, some which could be answered, others that the Mayor said the Board would look into. In response to a question about legal avenues being explored, Thomas Ulasewicz, the environmental attorney that is representing the Village, said that negotiations with Saint-Gobain were continuing and there will probably be litigation at some point. The Village is exploring legal avenues, he said.
The NYSDOH has maps that show what wells in the Town have been tested and anyone can look at them in the Village Office. Anyone who is interested in having their blood tested for PFOAs should call the DOH.
There is still disagreement about whether the contamination came solely from the McCaffery Street plant, or if there are more locations from whence it might have come. David Engel, speaking for Hoosick Healthy water, maintains that the McCaffery Street site is the only source, but the EPA and DOH will be conducting research and testing to determine the source of the contamination.
Committee and
Department Reports
Curbside Christmas tree pick-up will continue until Monday, February 1; after that date, residents will have to bring their trees to the Village Transfer Station for disposal. The Highway Department urges resident to please not put trees where they are likely to get buried by snow plows. If your tree is curbside before February 1, and has not yet been picked up, please call 518-686-7431.
Residents are reminded that signs have been placed on Village streets and that the snow emergency rules will go into effect and be enforced if there are three inches of snow or more.
County Waste will do double rounds because of the extra recycling needs due to extra plastic and cardboard from the bottled water.
Old Business
There is still more surveying that needs to be done on the sewer upgrade project, including on the Greenway. Archeological studies which use probes will be done and workers do as much as possible to stay off the path.
The Village has been awarded a grant for $107,000 for the Greenway and a $37,500 grant for the next steps in the Zoning Update project. Unfortunately, the Village did not receive the Wood Brook Grant.
Requests for Proposals (RFP’s) will be going out to certified contractors for the demolition of the American House. Engineer Bill Cottrell has been contracted to write the RFP for a fee of $2,000, which will be reimbursed by the owner or the the county.
A new budget year is coming up and the Mayor reminded all department heads to prepare their budget requests.
New Business
The Board passed two resolutions, one authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement with CT Male in order to facilitate and manage the design, construction, and installation of both the temporary and the long-term GAC system to filter out PFOAs in the Village water, the other to enter into a contract with a specific vendor identified by CT Male to complete the construction and set-up of the temporary GAC system.
The 2016 St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be March 12 beginning at 1 pm. It is the 25th anniversary of this great Hoosick Falls event. The Village will provide the funds that were already budgeted.
A request from the Hoosick Lions Club to use Wood Park, the bandstand and Village streets on Saturday, May 21 for the 31st Annual Wood Memorial Road Race was approved.
Instead of a Village registration day for the March 15 Village election, the Village will use the County voter rolls. The polling place for the entire Village will be the Municipal Building and the polls will be open from noon to 9 pm.
The Board of Trustees will meet to hear property tax grievances between 5 pm and 9 pm on Tuesday, February 16.
There was a brief discussion about correspondence from NYS Department of Transportation concerning the Shared Service Agreement for Emergency Assistance. In the agreement, Hoosick Falls may lend equipment and/or services to a neighboring community in an emergency situation and the State will reimburse the Village for the cost. [/private]