Hoosac School Suggests Ice Rink Partnership With Town

by Alex Brooks
Supervisor Surdam told the Board that Hoosac School has made an informal offer to pay a fairly large sum of money each year to the Town for use of the Town ice rink if it were brought up to standards that would support their Hockey Program. The standards that were briefly discussed were being able to provide ice (refrigeration), 4 locker rooms and regulation hockey boards. Hoosac School has developed a very successful hockey program for both boys and girls and would like to have access to the Town rink as home ice. [private]Hoosac is currently renting ice at facilities some distance from the school, according to Surdam. While it is an intriguing idea, whether or not it is feasible remains in question, and Surdam said more work will have to be done to explore that question.
Audit Coming
Supervisor Surdam told the Board he has been notified that the State Comptroller’s office will be doing an audit on some of the Town’s financial affairs. He wasn’t sure exactly what they had in mind, but he said these things are done to improve the Town’s fiscal operations, and he welcomes the State’s interest and attention.
Broadband
Concerning efforts to bring broadband to Hoosick, Surdam reported that Tom Vallone and the Hoosick Local Development Corp. have been working continually on this issue. In a recent conference call with NYS Empire State Development they learned that Time Warner has agreed to serve an additional 145,000 customers within New York State who previously had no service as a condition of the agreement to merge with Charter Communications. This service will come to Hoosick only if local citizens show a desire to have broadband service. Supervisor Surdam said “it will take a community effort” to demonstrate the Town’s need for service and desire to have it. Bouncelynx and Hudson Valley Wireless continue to work towards providing broadband service to some areas of the town.
The Board passed a resolution to partner with the Village to submit an application for funds to do a study of Woods Brook where it passes through the Village, seeking ways to take measures to reduce flooding in the Hall Street area. The application will be prepared and submitted by Barton and Loguidice at a cost of $2,500, (half paid by Town and half by Village) and will seek $24,800 to pay for the study, which would be done by Barton and Loguidice engineers.
Surdam said he and others spoke with Phil Koziol from Laberge Group about Phase 2 of the pool project. One of the issues discussed was the State requirement that a certain portion of the project be done by businesses owned by women and minorities. There are apparently not many local firms owned by women or minorities bidding on the project. The ones that are bidding are from far away and are bidding high, which threatens to raise the cost of the project. But it is not clear yet how this is all going to work out, and Surdam said he expects the picture will be clearer next month. The Town is hoping to get the design work done this summer so construction could begin after the swimming season and make substantial progress before it gets cold.
Information Sessions On PFOA Exposure
Doctors from Mount Sinai Hospital will be hosting information sessions in Petersburgh Friday July 29 from 6 to 9 pm at Veterans Memorial Community Center 71 Main St. and in Hoosick Falls on Saturday, July 30, 11am to 2 pm in the Armory at 80 Church St.
NYS Dept of Health testing of private wells is still available and filtration systems for private wells can still be requested. The NYS Health Department continues to staff the Armory on Tuesdays and Thursdays 2 to 8 pm and Saturdays 10 am to 2 pm to meet with anyone who would like to discuss their personal PFOA blood test results.
Residents who may know or suspect anything about PFOA dump sites in the Town of Hoosick are asked to contact NYSDEC or USEPA with the information.
Water And Sewer Expansion Feasibility Study
On June 27 there was a kickoff meeting at the Village Board Room. On June 30, New York State agreed to pay the $46,000 cost for this study.
• Historian – Town Historian Phil Leonard brought a Board highlighting the three falls on the Walloomsac River in Hoosick. The furthest upstream is near the site of the Battle of Bennington. Leonard told the story of Madison and Jefferson coming to Bennington in 1791 to see the site of the battle, only to be told that they had to travel eight miles westward to “Sickel’s Mills” in Walloomsac. This reference, said Leonard, is how we know that Sickel’s Mills were in operation in 1791. The other two falls are further downstream, one above and one below the building which is now Brown’s Brewery. Leonard discussed the various industrial enterprises that have used these three falls for water power over the years.
• Rensselaer County Youth Grant – The Town has received an email that again this year it will be receiving $2,188 from the Rensselaer County Dept. for Youth for our Town of Hoosick Youth Development Program that is run by HAYC3.
• The Town has received a letter and pamphlet from NYS Attorney General Eric Schneiderman outlining tips and considerations for homeowners interested in entering into solar contracts. The information has been added to the Town web site.
• Hoosick Falls Kiwanis will take the lead on fundraising for a Pool Slide Fundraiser-The Town is in contact with Rensselaer County about requirements for a slide. Plans must be submitted to the County and Laberge Engineering is looking into it.
• Deb Alter spoke to the Board about the Community Celebration planned for Wednesday August 3 called “Rock The Block” The event starts at 4, Food service starts at 6:30, and music starts at 7:30.[/private]