Hoosick Gives Up On Ice Rink Refrigeration
by Alex Brooks
Hoosick Supervisor Mark Surdam told the Hoosick Town Board at its September 10 meeting that he met with Jeff Cleary from State Senator Kathy Marchione’s office. Surdam requested that the $975,000 grant awarded to the Town for adding refrigeration equipment to the Town Skating rink be repurposed to a more general pool, park, and recreation grant. He said his request has been approved, and he is now putting together a specific plan for what the grant will be used for.
After the grant was awarded over a year ago, the Town Board became concerned that running an ice rink could be a difficult and expensive proposition even if building it cost the Town little or nothing. The Town hired a consultant to do a feasibility study, and the consultant’s conclusion was that it would cost the town about $65,000 per year to run the rink. Not wanting to add such a sum to the taxpayers’ annual burden, Surdam met with Hoosac School Headmaster Dean Foster to see if the school could provide anything that would make the project feasible, but the conclusion was that the community is not large enough or wealthy enough to support an ice rink with only one large institutional customer (Hoosac School). Surdam therefore sought to find other uses for the grant money.
Surdam said he has asked an engineer from Clough Harbor to help him develop the new plan for the grant. It would be used for updating pumps and filters at the pool, replacing the concrete that is buckling, creating structures to provide shade, a splash pad for kids, and perhaps other improvements to the Town recreation area. Surdam is trying to get the new plan fleshed out as soon as possible, so the grant can be secured and be ready to move forward with its new purpose.
Solar Law Hearing
The Board scheduled a new Public Hearing on its proposed solar law for Wednesday, October 10, at 6:30 pm. The Town Board has its first Budget Workshop scheduled for Thursday, October 4. at 6 pm. Surdam said he has begun work on assembling next year’s budget.
Pool Season Over
Surdam said the number of people using the pool this summer was as high as it has ever been. He noted that Janet Deluca has informed that Town that she will not be returning next year as the pool manager, so the Town will be looking for a new pool manager.
Surdam said since a new section of drainage pipe was put in coming out of the bath house, the pipe has not backed up again, but it is not clear if the problem is solved yet. He also said he will meet with a representative from Benjamin Moore about the floor paint in the bath house, which was not satisfactory to the Town. Surdam said the floor “looked dirty” two days after it was painted.
He also said new lights are being installed this week around the pool area.
Surdam said the Town received a complaint from the Kiwanis Club about areas around the pool and playground that were overgrown. He said the complaint is legitimate – the Town’s maintenance of those areas was not what it should be. But he noted that the Town relies on the Highway Superintendent and his crew to do all the maintenance around the town recreation area, which takes them away from their main job of maintaining the roads. He wondered if the Board should take another look at how the pool and playground maintenance is handled and if there might be a better way of getting it done.
The most recent problem with recreation area maintenance is a “black slime” on the tennis courts. Surdam said there are places where water sits after a rain, and in warm wet summers some kind of mold starts growing in those places, which makes these areas very slippery when they are wet. Bill Shiland has been treating the areas with a clorox solution, but it’s not clear yet if that will solve the problem.
Pool Deficit
At public comment time, Kevin Allard said he is concerned about the ongoing operating deficit of the pool, which he said was $55,000 last year, and with budget season starting, he would like to hear how the Board plans to address the situation for next year. Surdam said the deficit has been growing in recent years as the Town’s costs are rising and revenues are not keeping pace.
Jenn Hyde said she would like to see several years of figures on pool expenses and revenues so the board can get a clear picture of what is happening. Bill Hanselman said he believes what the Town charges for use of the pool is lower than what other pools charge, and it may be time to look at raising some of the fees charged for pool use. The Board did seem to have an appetite to take a close look at this and see what could be done to lower costs or to raise revenues to reduce the burden on the taxpayers.
There were also two other items which will add to the Town’s costs in the new budget, which Surdam called “unfunded mandates.” One is a state requirement that the Town do a complicated calculation having to do with funding retirement costs for its employees. The accounting standard is called GASB 75, and Surdam said in order to comply, the Town has to hire an accounting consultant at a cost of $7,500. This covers the 2018 and 2019 budget years, and the Town may have to do this again two years from now. The Board approved hiring the Harbridge Consulting Group to do this work, but there was a feeling that the requirement is inappropriate to a Town that is dealing with only three retirees.
The Board also discussed a new mandatory cancer coverage for volunteer fire fighters which is supposed to be in place by January 2019. Surdam said he has been told this coverage will cost $10,000 to $12,000 annually. For those fire companies that have their own line on the tax bills, this will not be the town’s problem, but the three fire companies that the Town contracts with for fire protection may have to increase the contractual fee to cover this new cost, and this is likely to increase the Town budget.
PFOA Blood Testing
Surdam said the new round of blood testing for PFOA will be concluded by the end of September. So far 800 tests have been done. The tests are free and the Town encourages everyone to get tested. The more people participate, the more accurate the assessment of the public health impact will be. To get tested, people have to contact the NYS Department of Health either online or by phone to get a test order sent to you, and you can use that test order to get the test done at either Twin Rivers Medical or at Bennington Hospital.
State Line Riders Event
There was some discussion of the State Line Riders event that happened the previous weekend. The Town Board held a special meeting to discuss the event two days before it was happening, and declined to do anything to call it off, but some on the Board felt they should give it a closer look if it is being planned for next year.
Roller Rink
Serena Toney came to speak to the Board again about utilizing the skating rink in the summer as a roller rink. She felt the main obstacle to making this happen is the cost of a removable floor to be installed for the summer and removed in winter when the ice is on the floor. She offered to lead a fundraising team to make this happen.
The Board was receptive to the idea but wanted to know more about what the overall cost would be – would there be an insurance cost, would staffing or maintenance be needed, and so on.
Broadband Service
Surdam read a letter written by Bill Johnston on behalf of the Hoosick Local Development Corporation to the State agency handling the current push to extend access to broadband internet service to all parts of the state. It said Hoosick is seeing installation of broadband cabling in some parts of Town but not in others, and urged state authorities to make sure that Charter extends service to the entire town. The letter expressed concern that parts of Hoosick will be overlooked and Charter will “fall short of serving the entire town.”
Fox Hollow Road
A resident of Fox Hollow Road spoke to the Board about the maintenance needs of that road. He said Town crews have come out this summer and done some ditching, but it seems haphazard and “opportunistic.” He said there are big ditches in some places and small or no ditches in other places. He said he would like to have a sense of what the overall plan is for the size of ditches and where the ditches go.
Maple Grove Cemetery
Joyce Brewer, Director of the Louis Miller Museum, talked about efforts to rehabilitate the fence of the Maple Grove Cemetery. She said the Historical Society has raised $2,800 of the $5,000 that they need. She said they have power-washed the fence and welded section back together, and they will be repainting it soon. The Historical Society is seeking donations to pay for the remaining work.
Maple Grove Cemetery will be getting a new Historical Marker on Saturday, September 29. A dedication ceremeony is planned for 1 pm, followed by guided and self-guided tours highlighting the notable people who are buried there.