Postponed Board Meeting Angers Community Members

By Jackolyn Houghton
The Hoosick Falls Village Board had called a special Board meeting for Thursday, February 23 to discuss a revised agreement between the Village and the two companies responsible for PFOA contamination in the Village, Saint-Gobain and Honeywell.
[private]News crews and community members who filled the Armory that evening found that the meeting was to be postponed. Mayor Borge explained that one of the Village Board members had a medical emergency in his family and could not attend. The Board felt that to discuss a matter of this importance all Board members should be present. The Board passed a motion to postpone the meeting until Monday, February 27 at 6 pm, and then adjourned.
Angry voices echoed in the Armory gymnasium wanting to be heard. Many who had come out to speak their minds about the proposed agreement felt that the Board should have listened to their concerns even if one of the Board members was not present, and even if the Board was not going to take a vote on the matter that evening.
Mayoral candidate Rob Allen, running unopposed for Mayor in the March 21 Village Election, said, “It’s a tough situation and I understand that he needs to take care of his family, but I would have held the meeting and listened to the concerns of the community.”
Mayor Borge has received numerous letters from people with a great deal of expertise urging the Village not to accept the agreement in its current form. These include former EPA Region 2 chief Judith Enck, former NYS Environmental Health Center Director Dr. Howard Freed, several environmental organizations, and most recently New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
The text of the revised agreement is available at the Village website at villageofhoosickfalls.com
The rescheduled meeting will be Monday February 27 at 6 pm at the HAYC3 Armory, 80 Church Street in Hoosick Falls.[/private]