“This Is Not A Done Deal”
\By Doug La Rocque
Those words were repeated many times by Town Supervisor Phil Herrington when speaking to residents of the town that came forth at the last Town Board meeting on Thursday, September 13. One after another, they explained why they felt the town should not permit the proposed Valley Avenue Apartment complex that developer David Leon hopes to build on land off Hillcrest Avenue and behind the Planet Fitness building along Hoosick Road, (Route 7). Several told the town board, they felt as if the decisions had been made, and the 201-unit apartment complex would proceed. Supervisor Herrington repeatedly explained that while it is an issue before the town’s Planning Board, there was a lot of work to be done, and that absolutely no decisions one way or the other had been made, except that the Planning Board has declared the proposal to have a positive environmental impact. In terms of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), a positive declaration means there are issues that will have a moderate to significant impact, and must be researched, scoped out and mitigated before the project can proceed. Mr. Leon and his engineering firm, must now prepare a full scale Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), something that has been known to take up to a year to complete. Supervisor Herrington pointed out, that even once the EIS is filed, the Planning Board can still reject one or all of the proposed mitigation and deny the project. It can also say no because they feel it would not be a good fit for the community.
The residents again hammered the traffic issue they believe it would create along the already very busy Hoosick Road, and overcrowding at Troy’s School 13, where any elementary age children that might move into the project would attend. Water and sewer issues as well as the impact on nearby Cooper’s Pond were also frequently mentioned.
Payment in Lieu of Taxes
Borrego Solar has begun the construction of a commercial solar facility on land that lies just east of Brick Church Road and north of Tamarac Rd. By law, this land is no longer taxable, but it is practice that such solar developers make payments in lieu of taxes to all the taxable entities associated with their parcel of land. The town is in the final stages of negotiations with Borrego to pay $7,000 per megawatt generated for a period of 15 years, with a two percent escalator per year. It is estimated Borrego will be generating about 5.5 megawatts. The taxing entities involved in the agreement are the Town of Brunswick, Rensselaer County and the Brittonkill School District.
Amongst a number of resolutions approved, was a short-term contract with Maser Consulting, P.A. to allow Wayne Bonesteel to continue as the Planning Board’s engineer until the end of the year. Mr. Bonesteel was recently hired by Maser, and his new employment would have precluded him from continuing with the town, shy of such an agreement.
The board also agreed to purchase a new John Deere Model Wheel Loader from Nortrax Inc. of Clifton Park, following a bid process. The board further voted to declare an older model loader now in the possession of the Highway Department, as surplus for sale, once the new loader is delivered and placed in service.
Town Clerk Bill Lewis presented the board with a check for $8,577 representing revenues collected by his office during the month of August.