by Alex Brooks
At the Village of Hoosick Falls Trustees meeting on November 9, attorney Stefanie Bitter was present, representing Cumberland Farms concerning their acquisition of the former Elks Lodge on the corner of Church St. and John St.[private] She was there to speak for Cumberland Farms during a public hearing about abolishing a few existing parking spots on Lower John Street. The public did not have any comments on the parking, but Trustee Kevin O’Malley said the Village Board had not yet seen a full site plan showing what the site would look like after the building had been taken down and the new parking lot built. He said the sketch provided at the Planning Board hearing was a bit rudimentary. Bitter said there will be ten spaces in the new parking lot as well as access to John Street and more room for trucks to maneuver. She said she could come back to the Board next month with a more complete site plan. O’Malley also requested that the fences and lighting fixtures used in the design of the new parking lot be in keeping with the historical character of the neighborhood. Bitter said she would pass that request along, and she saw no reason it couldn’t be accommodated. The Board decided to wait until next month to act on the parking rules on John St, when they will have more information about Cumberland Farms’ plans.
Mayor Borge said he had been approached by someone from the Pall Corporation about buying water filters for the Water treatment plant. The Village does not need these filters right now, but they will be needed soon. The normal cost to replace the 64 filters needed is $240,000. The company had previously offered the filters if the Village bought them early for $193,000. But now they offered the 64 filters for $168,100 if the Village takes delivery by December 16 – $24,900 less than the company’s previous offer. Mayor Borge recommended that the Board approve purchase of the filters at this price. He said the Village does have space enough to store them until they are needed. The Village will have 60 days to pay, and Borge said he believes the village can cover the cost without borrowing. The Board approved the purchase. Borge noted that these filters have nothing to do with the carbon filters used to remove PFOA from the water – these are the regular filters used in the Water Treatment plant.
The Board approved having the Mayor sign a letter of consent concerning a loan from the Dormitory Authority of State of NY to the Center For Nursing and Rehabilitation for $580,000, and another one agreeing to a refinance of the Center’s mortgage with KeyBank. Because the Center For Nursing And Rehabilitation owes the Village money, new creditors want permission from existing creditors for new lending.
Mayor Borge reported on the same conference call that Hoosick Supervisor Mark Surdam discussed the night before. Hoosick Falls did not score well on its application for funds from the EFC to expand the Village Water and Sewer system. Borge said the EFC does not want to even consider grants until a water district has been formed for the area that will be served by the water system expansion. “Forming a water district is a lengthy process,” said Mayor Borge. He said he and Supervisor Surdam are working with the Governor’s office and Senator Marchione’s office on alternative sources of funding.
Borge said construction is moving along well on installation of the permanent GAC filters at the water plant. He expects the system to be completed by December 7, at which time several weeks of sampling, testing and cleansing will begin. He expects the new system to be operational by the end of the year.
EPA Grants
For Brownfields
Steve Le Fevre from Barton & Loguidice (B&L) gave the Trustees a presentation about a grant opportunity from EPA. Le Fevre said, “my specialty is brownfield sites.” These are contaminated sites that need to be cleaned up before being re-used. The EPA offers assessment grants and cleanup grants for dealing with brownfield sites to get them ready for reuse. The first step is to do an assessment of potential brownfield sites in the Village, and once that is completed, the Village can go after cleanup grants for individual properties (although to get a cleanup grant, the municipality has to own the property). Le Fevre said Assessment grants are available for up to $300,000 with no matching funds required. He said the deadline to apply is December 22, and grant awards are announced in late spring or early summer, and funds would be available to spend by next fall. He said his firm would charge $4,000 to prepare and submit the application, and asked if the Trustees would like him to go ahead with applying for such a grant. The Board approved paying B&L $4,000 to prepare the application. The money for this will come from the Economic Development Fund.
Mayor Borge said negotiations with Honeywell and Saint-Gobain are nearly completed for a settlement agreement to pay the Village’s costs related to the PFOA contamination. “We think we have everything covered,” said Mayor Borge, but the agreement has not been finalized or signed yet. Negotiations with the Police Union are at a similar point – Borge said the Village “has come to a reasonable agreement” with the Police Union, but it has not yet been finalized.
LED Lights Save $
James Bono from Potentia was back with two proposals for replacement of existing lights in Village buildings with LED lights. The combination of big savings on the electric bill from more efficient lighting and a subsidy from National Grid makes the installation almost free, and once the installation is paid for there will be dramatic savings on the Village’s electric bill. The Board agreed to both of the contracts offered by Potentia. Village Attorney John Patterson had previously reviewed and approved these contracts.
Mayor Borge thanked several local institutions for contributions to the Greenway. The current project is to design and build a recreational picnic area at “Skorupski’s Landing,” the most recently acquired piece of land, located near the Saint-Gobain plant. The Whipstock Hill Associatrion gave $5,000, the Hoosick Federal Credit Union and the Lions Club gave $500 each, and the Local Development Corporation gave $1,000.
In other matters,
• Trustee Kevin O’Malley said he is organizing a committee of 8 people to work on downtown decorations.
• The NYS Department of Health has seen a significant reduction in the number of people coming into the Armory with questions about PFOA matters, and therefore they are reducing the hours that they will be available there. They will discontinue Thursday hours, and reduce hours on Tuesday and Saturday. The new hours will be Tuesdays from 6 to 8 pm, and Saturdays from 10 am to noon.
• The Village Transfer Station is no longer open on Tuesdays – it is open Saturdays only until March, when Tuesday hours will resume.
• Code Enforcement Officer Mark Surdam has his hands full with his duties. He opened 18 new complaints while closing out 8 – he has a total of 85 active complaints. He commenced three new cases in Village Court this month, and has seven other active, making a total of 10 active court cases. He issued seven new Building Permits while closing out two. There are currently 34 active building permits in the Village.
• Trustee Robert Downing said he had no treasurer’s report to present to the Board, because the Village has not finished its transition from Quickbooks to Williamson Law Book software.[/private]