TANA Report And Greenway Concerns On The Agenda
By Doug La Rocque
The meeting began with amoment of silence to remember the victims of the 2001, September 11 attacks in New York City, Washington DC and Shanksville PA. Next, the board heard a presentation from representatives of the NYS Departments of Health and Environment Conservation, as well as from Kirby Webster of SKEO solutions, who presented the final Technical Assistant Needs Assessment (TANA), which The Eastwick Press fully reported on in last week’s edition. There was some discussion about the facilitator who will be hired to guide a Hoosick Area Community Participation Work Group, as to what their role might be, and how long they might be needed. That facilitator is to be hired jointly by the Village, the Town of Hoosick and the New York State agencies involved. As to the community group itself, it received a strong recommendation from Village Trustee Brian Bushner, who said “it will create a good aggregate of the various groups involved for the community.”
DEC Assistant Commissioner Sean Mahar also updated the board on research recently done at the Superfund sites at McCaffrey and John Streets, where the agency is looking into ground and water sampling, as well as where water is running off the building roofs into the soil. Mahar also noted their research has found runoff from the McCaffrey Street site is contaminating the well fields and needs to be diverted. He also mentioned two more Superfund sites are under consideration, that being at Oak-Mitsui and the landfill.
Mahar also answered questions about the scope of off site sampling, explaining they basically keep extending the sampling field, until they find little or no contamination.
Greenway Issues
Resident Rebecca Humphrey brought her safety concerns about the Greenway to light, noting several points. Those being groups of what she labeled as suspicious people hanging around, trash and vandalism. She told the Board she no longer feels safe biking the Greenway alone, and asked about the possible installation of security cameras. Police Chief Robert Ash indicated it was under consideration, but also urged Ms. Humphries and anyone else who might see something amiss, to report it to his department immediately, indicating the better handle they get on the situation, the better they will know when and where to assign extra patrols. Chief Ashe also stated that he has been approached by some village youth about the establishment of a bike park. He encouraged them to formulate their idea and bring it to the Village Board for consideration. He noted with pleasure, there seems to be a line of communication opening up between some of the village youth and his department. “It’s working,” said the Chief. He also indicated that he would like to do something in Wood Park during the winter months for families and children.
Other Business
Mayor Rob Allen indicated water main work along Snow Street could be a little more expensive than planned, because the village was unable to obtain permission from one resident for work that would have been on that person’s property, and the Water Department had to engineer a solution around it. Asked if the village could not have taken the property by eminent domain, Village Attorney Andy Gilchrist answered, yes they could have, and it would have probably been a less expensive route, but the timetable for such a process (it can take up to six months) precluded it. Mayor Allen said the cost of the project will still come in under the $350,000 grant obtained through Senator Marchione’s office, but that it meant there would be less grant money to apply to the second phase of the project.
Highway Superintendent Niel Stowell indicated his department is a bit short on trucks. He said one truck used for snowplowing needs to be repaired or replaced, after it was struck by a deer. A truck used by the Sewer Department was involved in an accident earlier this year.
Repeater On Water Tower
The President of the Hoosick Falls Amateur HAM Radio Club, Greg Fox, also addressed the board about putting a repeater atop the Rensselaer Street Water Tower, looking for permission and whatever assistance the board might be in position to give. He made note of the many instances where HAM radio operators have been able to provide emergency communication when all other avenues are down. He indicated their field-testing showed placement of a repeater atop the tower produced the best overall coverage for the area.